Picture Perfect Murder (Ryli Sinclair 1) (5 page)

I drove to the grocery store and picked up the ingredients Mom’s
recipe called for before driving home. I’d read over the recipe a few times, so
I was pretty sure I had everything down pat. There were a few things I wasn’t
sure about, but I figured I could wing it. After all, it’s a chocolate cake
with whip cream filling wrapped up like a huge Ho Ho. How hard could it be? And,
yes, I was purposely going for the subliminal message.

The air was crisp and smelled of rain as I gathered the
groceries from my trunk and headed inside the house. I knew Matt was going
crazy over the fact it was less than ten days until Halloween, and I hadn’t
even started to decorate the cottage. He loved making a big deal out of every
holiday, but I always seem to wait until the last minute to do anything. I shut
the front door with my hip and greeted Miss Molly.

After putting the groceries away, I made a list of things I
wanted to get done before I started on the dessert. Bubble bath, shave all necessary
body parts, and then work on my hair and makeup. This way when I finished the
dessert all that would be left would be to shimmy into my black skinny jeans
and sweater. Seemed simple enough. The dessert should only take about an hour
to prepare and bake.

Opening a bottle of Cabernet, I carried my wine glass and
cell phone into the bathroom. I absolutely loved my bathtub. Matt surprised me
and remodeled the bathroom before I moved in. He put in the most amazing claw-foot
tub for authenticity.

Pouring the vanilla-lavender scent into the running water, I
sat on the edge of the claw-foot tub, lit some vanilla candles, and sip on wine
while the tub filled. Opening the Pandora app on my phone, I chose the station
I wanted and slipped into the warm water.

The ringing of my cell phone jolted me awake. I knew from
the ringtone it was Paige. Wiping my hands on the hand towel beside the tub, I
decided to put her on speaker so I didn’t accidentally drop the phone in the
water.

“So tell me again what you’re bringing tonight?” That was
Paige, straight to the point.

“It’s a chocolate roll with a whip cream center. Kinda like
a huge Ho Ho.”

“Could you be more obvious, Ryli?” Paige laughed.

“I’m getting ready to go start it now,” I said, ignoring her
question. “I figure I have plenty of time, but just in case I need to improvise
I’ll start early.”

“Um…will you be insulted if I make a little dessert too?”
Paige quickly added, “You know, just in case? I promise not to bring it out if
yours is good.” I could tell by her voice she really wanted me to say it was
okay.

“That’s fine. I mean, you won’t need to, but I understand.” Not
really, but what the hell. I’d let them eat their words soon enough.

I finished shaving and then stepped out of the tub. I slathered
on my favorite body lotion and wrapped myself in a short, red bathrobe. The
satin robe felt empowering as I tied off the belt. Smelling good, feeling
sassy, this diva was ready to tackle the dessert.

Two glasses of wine later, I realized I may have been a
little too optimistic. For the life of me, I couldn’t figure out what I was
doing wrong. All you had to do was add egg whites and tartar and then beat
until stiff peaks formed. Then you add all the ingredients together and bake.

Glancing at my watch I noticed I only had an hour before
Garrett was due, and I had yet to fix my hair and get dressed. Running into my
bedroom I turned on my curling iron and started pulling clothes from my closet,
trying to find my red clingy sweater and black skinny jeans. By now I figured
I’d need all the help I could get. If I couldn’t knock his socks off with my
baking, maybe I could knock them off with my sexiness.

Oh,
God, I'm in trouble!

Thirty minutes later my hair was curled, my black jeans were
skintight, and my sweater was pushed up and clinging in just the right spots. I
zipped up my knee-high black boots over my jeans and did a little twirl and
shimmy in the mirror, just to make sure everything was in place.

Feeling more confident, I walked back into the kitchen ready
to kick this cake’s ass. Tying an apron around my waist, I once again went back
to the recipe. If I could get it mixed together real quick, I could slap it in
the oven with plenty of time to bake. While it was baking I could whip up the
filling. We didn’t have to be at Matt’s house until seven, so I was still
making good progress.

Dumping everything into the garbage can, I started over. I
separated more eggs and prayed the peaks would get stiff this time. I carefully
measured out the tartar, dumped it into the metal bowl, and turned on the
KitchenAid mixer my mom bought me as a housewarming gift.

Please,
let this work!

As I was pouring the last of the wine into my glass, the
doorbell rang.

I kept the mixer running in hopes the mixture would stiffen
shortly. Carrying my glass with me—added security—I paused at the front door to
alternately wipe off my clammy hands on the apron. Plastering a confident smile
on my face, I opened the door.

You know those moments when you’re pretty sure time has
slowed down and yet things are continually going on around you at what seems like
warp speed? That’s what it was for me. Just the sight of him in dark jeans and
a long-sleeved shirt had me salivating. The color of his shirt was almost a
perfect match for his icy, blue eyes. I realized he was devouring me in the
same way, and I suddenly wished I would’ve taken off my apron.

“You look sexy as hell in that apron, Sin.”

I narrowed my eyes at him, turned on by the compliment but
pissed at the nickname.

“I’m just finishing up the filling.” Okay, little white lie,
but who’s keeping track.

He gave me a peck on the cheek then walked toward the
kitchen.

“What the hell?” Garrett was peering into the mixing bowl,
his brow furrowed.

“It just needs to set up a little,” I assured him.

A wicked grin spread across his face as he stared at me. “I
don’t think so, Sin.” He reached up to turn off the mixer.

“Hey, it’s not quite done!”

“What the hell are these green floaty things?” Realization
hit, and the emotions on his face ranging from horror to amusement back to
horror made me feel ridiculous. I wasn’t sure what I had missed, but it must
have been a doozie.

“Sin, what’s in this bowl?” he asked.

“Egg whites and tartar.”

“I thought so,” Garrett said. “Please tell me you know
there’s a difference between tartar
sauce
and
cream
of tartar.”

There
was?

“Oh, my God, you put tartar
sauce
in here? Oh, fuck,
that’s priceless!” He leaned over the counter, holding his side. I could see
his shoulders shaking. I knew there was a problem, but I wasn’t sure exactly
what it was.

 “What?” I said as I went to stand next to him. “Okay,
I obviously know I messed up, but what exactly did I do wrong?”

He must have heard the hurt in my voice because he lifted
his head then stood back up. “Oh, babe, you know tartar sauce is what you put
on fish, not in desserts, right?”

I could feel my face burning. Of course there would be a
difference, but I’d never heard of cream of tartar. Mom’s recipe just said to
add six egg whites to one-eighth teaspoon of tartar. There were no
specifications about what kind of tartar.

I thought tartar was tartar.

Tears stung my eyes, and I tried to blink them back. I would
not cry in front of Garrett, especially after he just finished laughing at me.

Reaching up, Garrett brushed his thumb over my cheek. “Hey,
don’t worry. We have plenty of time before we need to leave. We can whip something
up.” He looked at the ingredients I had sitting out. “Do you have vinegar?”

“Vinegar? Why?”

“Because I’m fairly certain you don’t have buttermilk, but
if you have vinegar I can make buttermilk. I make the best chocolate cake
you’ve ever tasted, and it only takes thirty-five minutes to bake. By the time
we assemble and bake, we should be right at an hour. We’ll still be on time,
and no one will be the wiser.”

I was stunned. I couldn’t believe he was going to do this
for me. “Do you need a recipe?”

“Nope. I make this one all the time, trust me.”

Hardass
Kimble bakes…who knew?

The only other person that would know I didn’t bring what I
had originally intended to bring would be Paige, and she wouldn’t say anything.
Now, if Matt knew, I'd never live it down.

Grinning, I leaned over and kissed him lightly on the lips,
“Deal!”

“We do have a few minutes to spare if—” I ducked under his
arms as he tried to pull me closer.

“We don’t have much time. We can hanky-panky later.”

Garrett laughed as he poured the tartar sauce goop down the
drain. “Hanky-panky? Really, Sin, who says that?”

Because he was helping me, I let the nickname slide.

We worked silently for a few minutes, Garrett assembling the
ingredients while I cleaned up after him. “What were you trying to make?”

I bit my lip. I knew if I said a giant Ho Ho he would just
poke fun at me. Especially since it didn’t work. I fumbled around, unsure of
how to answer.

“I don’t know. Like a chocolate roll or something,” I
mumbled.

Garrett stopped pouring the batter into the pan. The twinkle
in his eye told me I was caught. “A chocolate roll? You mean one of those cakes
that looks like a giant Ho Ho?”

I didn’t say anything. Instead, I grabbed my wine glass and
gulped down the last of the wine. It didn’t help, I could still feel the heat
radiating off my face.

“This has about thirty minutes to bake. Then it needs time
to cool so I can dust some powdered sugar over the top.” He reached over and
took my empty wine glass out of my hand and set it on the counter. As he leaned
in toward me, my mind went blank and I felt my body getting all tingly. The
sudden ringing of his cell phone jarred me back into reality.

“Sorry, but I’m expecting a call back from the lab about
evidence we bagged.” Sliding his finger across the phone, he turned his back to
me. “This is Kimble.”

I’m not ashamed to say I openly eavesdropped. What else did
I have to do? Unfortunately, Garrett was being tight lipped and only giving
one-syllable answers followed by occasional grunts. This left me lots of time
to gawk at his butt in the jeans he was wearing.

Not good, now I wanted to get my hands on his ass.

I was saved from those dangerous thoughts when he suddenly
hung up and turned back to me. Something in my face must have given me away,
because the lusty grin on his face had me backing up a step. “What was that
about?” I asked, looking for a way to escape.

“Nothing,” Garrett replied as he reached for me again.

“Nothing? It didn’t sound like nothing. Did the lab techs find
something?”

Garrett narrowed his eyes at me. “Didn’t I tell you
yesterday to back off meddling in this case?”

“I’m not meddling, I’m just being a curious citizen of this
town.”

“Don’t push your luck with me, Sin. I have enough to worry
about right now without worrying about your safety. I swear, I find out you are
poking around where you don’t belong, I’ll haul your cute little ass to jail.”

On the one hand I was totally pissed he thought I was
useless…but on the other hand, he did say I had a cute ass.

“Jeez, don't worry, I'm not going to do anything that will
make your life crazy,” I said, crossing my fingers behind my back.

Garrett snorted. “Right. I need to call Officer Ryan real
quick and discuss something. Can I use your bedroom for privacy?”

I narrowed my eyes at him. I knew what he was saying...he
wanted a place where I couldn't overhear.

I waved my hand toward the hallway. “It's back there...I'm
sure you can find it.”

Grinning, he turned and sauntered down the hallway,
oblivious of the evil eye I was giving him.

I reached down to pick up my wine glass, only to realize it
was empty...as was the bottle. Sighing, I went and sat down on the couch and
waited for the cake to finish baking.

“Why are you here on time?” Paige whispered to me as I handed
her the cake.

“What do you mean?” I honestly didn’t catch on until she
gave me the “knowing” look combined with the wiggling eyebrows. The fact she
was looking at my crotch didn’t hurt, either.

“Whose car is that in the drive?” I said, hoping to distract
her.

It worked. “Since there’s no football game this week, Nick
stopped by.

I really liked Nick Turner. He moved to Granville about two
years ago when he took a teaching and coaching position at the high school. He
teaches high school history and coaches football and wrestling.

“I wonder if he’s heard anything new about the murder?” I
whispered so Garrett wouldn’t hear me and give me another lecture.

Following Paige into the kitchen, I waived at my brother and
Nick. Garrett went around me, but not before tugging surreptitiously on the
back of my hair. I countered it by picking up the open wine bottle on the
counter and pouring me a small glass.

Hey, if I was going to survive this night, I was going to
need more booze, no doubt about it.

I helped Paige prepare the salad, neither one of us talking
much since the guys were within earshot. Which was fine by me…left me more
chances to watch Garrett interact with others. Usually when I saw him it was in
a more formal capacity…or more standoffish toward me since he and Matt are
friends, and I’m Matt’s little sister. This was the first time we’d all gotten
together under the guise of me being more than just Matt’s sister. Just as I
figured, he didn’t seem near as nervous as I was.

“We’re just about to put the steaks on,” my brother said as
he led the men outside.

“Okay, dish,” Paige said once we were alone.

I pretended to take another drink so I could have some time
to think about what to say. I was still processing it myself. I wasn’t sure how
to explain it to her. “Not much to tell. He came over, we baked a cake.”

“He came an hour early, and you’re telling me you guys only
baked a cake?”

“Yep.”

Clucking her tongue in sympathy, Paige took a closer look at
the cake. “What happened to the Ho Ho thing?”

“Didn’t work out,” was all I said. Paige being the good
friend she was didn’t say a word.

Dinner was a delicious meal of salad, grilled veggies,
steaks, and the chocolate cake I brought. Plus more wine for Paige and me and
beer for the boys.

“So, anything new you can share with us about Dr. Garver?”
Matt asked suddenly when the previous conversation and laughter had died down.

Every eye turned to Garrett. He took another slow draw from
his beer before answering. “Not really. Looking into a few leads, but still
going through the preliminaries right now.”

There were leads? When did this happen? I wished I’d taken
more care to listen to the phone call Garrett got at my house a while ago,
since now suddenly there were leads.

“Everyone at the school is shocked, I can tell you that,”
Nick said. “To think that someone actually went through with what many people
thought of doing is really kinda scary.” He chuckled nervously as he shifted in
his seat. “Don’t get me wrong, I never had a direct problem with her, I'm just
a small fish, but I’ve listened to many teachers and coaches that did.”

“I’d say the general consensus we’ve come up with was that
it was her way or the highway,” Garrett agreed.

“Yes, I’d say you’re right.” Nick agreed. “I heard the heart
was ripped out of her chest.”

Oh boy! Obviously word had gotten out already about Dr.
Garver’s body. Not that I really thought it would be able to be kept a secret
in this town.