Tastes Like Murder (Cookies & Chance Mysteries Book 1) (16 page)

Josie and I sat in silence at my kitchen table. I ran my fingers over the smooth surface of the drop leaf, flinching as thoughts of the break-in entered my mind. Instead, I tried to focus on how I'd purchased the table and its four matching chairs at a nearby yard sale, talking the owner down to a mere twenty dollars. I'd been very proud of my bargaining skills that day.

It was past six o'clock, and we were waiting for Brian and another policeman to finish their investigation downstairs. Pictures had been taken and my insurance company notified. I was thankful for the policy because even though I didn't own the building, my business needed the protection. The insurance representative informed me that the amount for a new display case would be covered, which was a huge relief. I didn't know about the ingredients or my Cuisinart mixer, which had also been destroyed. That was sure to cost a pretty penny to replace. No money would be coming in for a few weeks, and now I had repairs to make, on top of a major cleanup.

I exhaled sharply and stared at my green speckled Formica countertop. An unopened bottle of Merlot sat there, just waiting for me to open it. Gianna had given me the wine as a housewarming gift. It would be easy to indulge and forget my troubles, but with my low tolerance for alcohol, not the smartest idea.

Josie sighed and reached for her coffee cup. "What are we going to do, Sal?"

I rested my weary head on my arms. "Someone's trying to warn us to mind our own business. They think we know something."

"I hate to admit it, but I'm getting scared." Josie's eyes glistened with fear.

My stomach was tied in knots. "I know. Me too."

There was a tap on my door, and Brian walked in. He gave us both a sympathetic smile. "We're all set. We've gone through the shop, made note of damages, and taken some pictures. You guys can start cleaning up, if you want. You said nothing was taken, right?"

I shook my head. "I didn't see anything missing. Definitely no money. The shop's closed on Sundays, so the drawer was emptied last night."

He made a note on his pad. "Well, at least you don't have to rush to clean anything up. You have more than a few days."

Josie snorted. "Gee, that's comforting to know."

"Jos." I shot her a warning glance. "It's not his fault."

Her face reddened, and she eased herself out of the chair. "I'm sorry, Brian. I know you're only trying to help. I'll go see if there's anything I can salvage from the ruins."

"I'll start on the walls." I got to my feet and started to walk past Brian.

"Hey." He touched my arm. "Are you angry with me?"

I shook my head, refusing to meet his gaze.

"No, I'll go tackle the walls." Josie glanced from me to Brian. "You come down whenever you're ready." Her high heels clicked on the wooden staircase.

Brian lifted my chin in his large hand. "You're upset I asked you to close the shop."

My eyes were moist as I stared back at him. "It's not you. Honest. I feel so violated right now. Not to mention angry."

Brian put his arms around me, and my heart thumped faster. "Do you know why I didn't want you snooping around? Because I was afraid something like this could happen. I mean, what if you guys had come back early from the wake and found the intruder? He could have—hurt you." His expression darkened.

I understood what he meant, but couldn't bring himself to say. Josie and I both might have been killed.

"I don't know what the insurance company will cover. My policy will probably skyrocket since I didn't have an alarm system installed." I was determined not to cry again and gulped back a sob. "This might be the end of my shop."

Brian tightened his grip around me. "Everything is going to be okay. I promise you I'm going to do whatever I can to find this creep."

He stroked my cheek gently, and from the look in his eyes, I thought he was going to kiss me. I waited, but nothing happened. Something seemed to be holding him back. He released his hold and then walked me toward the stairs, closing the apartment door behind us.

I clenched my fists while surveying the damage, furious at the monster who'd done this. I'd lived with loneliness and betrayal the last couple of years. There was no way I would add fear into the mix. The killer was determined to ruin my life as well as Josie's, and I wanted him stopped.

Josie had donned some plastic gloves and filled a bucket with baking soda and water. She was cleaning the frosting mess off the walls. She gave me an encouraging nod, and I thanked my lucky stars for her. I didn't think I could have handled this by myself.

I managed a smile for Brian. "Thanks for coming. You were a lifesaver."

"Hey, anytime your life needs saving, I'm happy to oblige. Or if you need anything else." He dropped his tone a notch. "Would you like me to stay and help clean up?"

I shook my head. "No, you're on duty. Thanks for the offer, though."

Brian reached for my hand and glanced over at Josie, absorbed in her work. "Let's have that dinner date. How about Tuesday night? I'd
really
like to get to know you better."

Although sorely tempted, I worried about starting something so soon. My track record with men wasn't very good. "I-I don't know, Brian. I think it's kind of soon for me after the divorce and everything."

"I understand. But you do have to eat, right?" His warm eyes teased me, and I melted under his gaze.

Maybe I was being silly. Plus, I
really
liked him. "Yes."

"We'll only talk. And eat, of course." He held up his right hand. "Scout's honor."

I laughed. He made it tough for me to say no, and there was something about him and his boyish charm that I found so appealing. Sweet, kind, uncomplicated, and easy on the eyes. The complete package.
What can one dinner hurt?
I gave in. "Okay."

Brian's face lit up. "Great. Now behave yourself, and another thing, lay off the gas pedal."

"What do you mean?" I asked, confused.

"Last week, I spotted you going fifty in a thirty-mile-an-hour zone." He shook his finger at me then reached over to take my hand again, massaging it between both of his. My breath caught in my throat. "I should have pulled you over and given you a ticket."

"Why didn't you?"

"I figured you'd start crying and didn't want to see those big, beautiful, brown eyes get all watered down." He hesitated for a second. "I've been watching you for a while."

"Oh, really?" I teased him. "Are you some kind of a stalker?"

His eyes locked on mine. "Only when I see something I like."

Oh, my.
"I bet you let everyone off the hook."

He roared with laughter. "I issued over one hundred tickets last month. You're the
only
one I let off the hook. Like I said, I had my reasons." His tone grew serious. "I've got to get going. Please be careful. I don't want anything to happen to you. Call me if you need me. Anytime, day or night."

"Okay."
My knight in shining armor.

Brian released my hand. "I'll talk to you tomorrow, beautiful." He strode to the door, turned around, and smiled, giving me one last appraising look before he exited the shop. I waved my hand in front of my face.
Dang, it was warm in here.

Josie faced me, hands on her hips. "Well, at least something good came out of this mess. You and Officer Hottie have a date."

"You were listening." I tried to conceal my grin but failed miserably.

"Hey, I never like to miss out on the good stuff. And he
is
hot. Maybe not as hot as Mike, but pretty damn close."

"Would you quit? We're only having dinner." I went into the back room for another bucket and dumped in some baking soda. "How's it coming off?"

"Slowly, but it doesn't seem to be hurting the paint. By the way, Gianna's on her way over. She said she'd be here within an hour to help."

"Did you tell her what happened?"

"Your father heard the alert over his scanner. They called my phone when you didn't answer. Must have been while you and Brian were upstairs making out." Josie flicked a drop of water at me as I walked by.

I wiped my cheek. "We weren't doing anything. He was here on business, remember?"

"Oh, yeah. He's strictly all business around you."

I grabbed a sponge and set to work on removing our personalized message. I didn't want to look at it anymore. "So if the murderer did this, they weren't at the wake after all."

"They could have been." Josie wrung out her sponge. "The viewing was until five o'clock. They might have come here, trashed the place, and gone over afterward."

"Did you see Zoe and Liza at the funeral home?" The
B
in bitches vanished before my eyes.

She shook her head. "Maybe they showed up after we left."

My sponge was quickly turning the same shade as Pepto-Bismol. "What do you think about Charlotte?"

Josie stopped to consider. "I guess anything's possible. She seemed to be fond of Amanda, though. Why else would she put up with her crap for years? You're forgetting she was at the wake too. The entire time."

"I know. That's what's so frustrating about all this."

"Okay, let's break this all down. I mean, who do we have as suspects? Liza, the crazy massage therapist. Maybe Zoe. There are other technicians at the shop we haven't met yet. They could be suspects as well. We know they all hated Amanda. Maybe Charlotte was involved. We even thought it might have been Vido, remember."

"What about Jeannie Peterson?" I asked.

Josie narrowed her eyes at me. "The Wicked Witch of the West? Why would you suspect her?"

"When Jeannie was in here the other day, she mentioned that Amanda got her just desserts. And she came back last night, after you'd gone home. She…" I stopped. There was no way I was going to tell my friend what Jeannie had said about her. "Um, she said she knew you didn't like her."

Josie snorted. "Gee, she sure knows how to hurt my feelings. The woman is a nutcase, but there's no way she did it. How could she have even gotten close enough to slip something into her smoothie? Amanda wouldn't let Jeannie anywhere near her. She hated her cackling guts."

She had a point. "I'm trying to consider all options here."

"Then you have to consider Mike, too."

"Why? Because he comes from an abusive family? The idea is ridiculous."

Josie smiled. "My, aren't you quick to defend him."

I ignored her teasing. "Look. Mike had no reason to kill her. He was installing a Jacuzzi at the spa. That's all."

"By the way." Josie scrubbed the wall around the front door. "Mikey was watching you and Officer Hottie talking at the wake. He didn't look too happy."

"What else is new? He seems to be everywhere these days." I found it amazing that I hadn't seen Mike during the first few weeks I was back in town. Then again, I'd barely stepped foot out of the shop. Now there was no escaping him.

She waved her sponge in the air. "Getting back to Charlotte. She'd have easy access to the money and bee venom they kept at the spa. Maybe she even had a key to Amanda's apartment. She fits the profile spot on."

I laughed. "The profile? What, are you Sherlock Holmes now?"

"Oh, you know what I mean. She's the perfect suspect." Josie picked up the bucket and carried it into the back room for another refill.

"Yeah, except for one thing. She was at the wake today and couldn't have done this. I think we already covered the fact that she can't be in two places at once."

Josie reappeared with a fresh pail of water. "You had to ruin it for me, didn't you? Still, what does she do all day?"

"What are you talking about?" I walked past her to empty my bucket.

"Well, Liza said Charlotte was hardly ever at the spa, and Zoe hadn't seen her since Tuesday, the day before Amanda was murdered. What does she do with her time? Maybe she has a boyfriend." Josie chuckled. "I'd love to see what kind of guy would date her."

"I don't remember her ever dating anyone in high school. And for someone we always considered so meek, she sure didn't waste any time filling Kate's head with evil ideas about me." I recalled what Kate had said about ruining my business and shuddered. She definitely had the power to do it. "Do you think Kate could have had something to do with the murder? No, wait, forget I said that. The idea's just crazy."

Josie reached for a broom and began sweeping the floor. "I can't picture Kate plotting her own daughter's death. I could see Charlotte involved, though."

"Wait a second…" I remembered the talk I'd had with my mother earlier at the funeral home and headed upstairs for my purse. I pawed through it until I found the matchbook she'd given me and ran back downstairs to show Josie.

"
Snake Eyes Casino,
" Josie read aloud. "What does this have to do with anything?"

"Charlotte had this. My mother bummed a light from her. Do you think she goes there? Maybe she's got a gambling problem?"