The Mud Pie Murderess: A Bakery Detectives Cozy Mystery (6 page)

"Don't worry," I reassured her. "I've been on plenty of stake outs and...." Well, most of them had ended in disaster, if I was being entirely honest with myself. But I forced a smile on my face. "They always turn out perfectly fine. We're just here to observe."

"And what do we do once we observe something?" Chloe asked in a whisper. "And how long is it going to take to observe this thing we're apparently looking for?"

She was still tapping the steering wheel and I could tell she was about a second away from panicking and turning her incredibly loud engine on and speeding away. At 1:00am in this community, that would get the cops called on us. I needed to calm her down quickly. She looked like she was about to hyperventilate.

"Maybe we should get out of the car," I suggested. "Get some fresh air."

Chloe already had the door open before I could finish my sentence, spilling out onto the road. I followed her and closed my door quietly before racing to close hers just as quietly. I was starting to think, for the first time, that Chloe might be more of a liability than an asset.

"Come on," I said quietly. "At least we're dressed for creeping around, and it's completely dark out. Let's get closer to the Styles’ home. See if we can make anything out."

"I don't know, Rachael..." But she followed me anyway, not knowing what else to do, her arms wrapped around herself.

The Styles’ mansion was even more impressive up close with its tall brick walls and creeping plants up the side. Even though it was clearly a new house, it had an old, expensive look about it, which they had clearly paid top dollar for.

"We should stay off the lawn in case they have sprinklers," I whispered, instead leading Chloe up a path that led around the back of the house. There was a light on in one of the upstairs rooms, and I was hoping that it might be Angel's room and that she might still be awake. After all, teenagers stay up until the wee hours of the morning, don't they? I could barely remember, it seemed to be so long since I'd been one.

"Can you see anything?" I asked Chloe as we crouched underneath the bottom window. The bedroom with the lights on was one story above us, so we should have been able to get a good look if we got lucky.

Chloe raised her head a little but not enough for her to be able to see clearly. She still seemed paralyzed with fear. It was up to me then. I pulled away from the wall a little and looked up into the room where the light was shining.

There I saw a girl, about eighteen or nineteen, very thin, with a short sleek bob. Her hair was dark brown and glossy and perfectly styled still, even though she was in her pajamas. She was sitting at her dresser and I couldn't get a good look at her face. But after a few moments, she raised it and I saw her reflection in the mirror. She was crying.

But she looked like her mother. It was Angel Styles, I was sure about that.

I ducked back down, guilt shooting through me. We shouldn't have been there. We shouldn't have been watching such an intimate moment.

"You're right," I whispered to Chloe. "We shouldn't be here. We should go."

We were just about to go when Chloe tripped over a rock and reached out to stop herself falling, landing awkwardly on her wrist. "Ouch!" she called out, way too loudly.

I saw Angel Styles' reflection again as she sat up, startled. She quickly ran to the window and I pulled Chloe back against the brick wall, holding my breath while we both pressed ourselves flat against it, Chloe still gripping at her aching wrist.

"Shh," I said, trying to be the one to stay calm. We were both frozen there though, knowing that if we made a move for it then we would only give ourselves away. I could see Angel Styles' slim shadow on the ground as she leaned against the window, peering out at us. I pulled Chloe closer to the left so that our own shadows remained hidden.

Police sirens rang out.

Oh...shoot.

"
R
un
!" I said to Chloe. "Run to the car! Get in it and drive!"

Chloe raced away and turned to look back at me. "Rachael! Are you coming?"

I nodded and chased after her, but the cop car was already racing up the street, its red and blue lights flashing. I knew that if we both went the same way they would catch both of us. "Get in the car!" I screamed out to Chloe. "Just drive! Don't worry about me!"

I recognized the angry looking face of the detective as the car screeched towards me. I ran towards the cop car, trying to distract the angry driver while Chloe struggled to get into her own car and start the engine. I had to at least protect her. I'd gotten her into this situation and made her come on the stake out. It wasn't fair that she should get punished for it when I'd dragged her along.

She was far enough away by that stage that she was able to drive away without getting caught. Her engine was noisy and she choked the car as she struggled to pull away, but she got away in time. Unfortunately, I did not suffer the same fate.

Even if the driver had wanted to follow Chloe's car, he was centered on me. I was the red flag. He was the bull.

"Rachael," Jackson said, slamming the door as he stomped over to me. "Why am I not surprised to find you here?"

* * *

T
he cell was cold
. Freezing. There was a strange smell. I didn't even want to think about what it was or it would only make my stomach turn.

I closed my eyes and leaned against the stone walls. There was only one other person in the cell, and she was passed out on the seat across from me. I supposed Monday night wasn't peak time in the Belldale holding cells.

I didn't know how long I had been in there, or whether anyone was coming to see me. Was I going to get a phone call? Was Jackson ever going to come and tell me what was going on?

Finally, footsteps approached. I jumped up, the words on the edge of my lips, ready to explain everything.
Jackson, it wasn't what it looked like.

But it wasn't Jackson. It was a young, uniformed officer with blonde hair and a bit of a belly on him, which I assumed he must have put on quite swiftly after joining the force.

"Oh," I said. "Is Detective Whitaker coming back?"

He shook his head and opened the cell. "You got one phone call, ma'am."

Ma'am? I wasn't that much older than him. But I gulped and followed him out into the filthy hallway until we reached the one phone we had access to. I tried not to think about how many other people had spoken into the receiver as I picked it up. "Excuse me?" I asked the young cop. "Can you tell me what time it is?"

"3:30am," he replied with a little eyebrow raise. Shoot. Pippa would not want to answer the phone at that time of night. Morning. I just hoped she
would
answer it.

The phone rang eight times before she finally picked up. I closed my eyes and silently thanked anyone up there who might be listening. "Pippa," I said. "I'm really sorry. I've got something to tell you."

* * *

T
hankfully
, my bail was set at a couple of hundred bucks, but I knew that Pippa would struggle with even that after a few weeks off work. "I'll pay you back as soon as we're home," I whispered to her as we were leaving, but she refused to even look at me.

"Aw, come on, Pips," I said as I chased her out the door. She was already racing to the car and I half-thought she was going to drive off without me. Even though it was my car that she was driving. She started the ignition and I climbed into the passenger seat quickly before she did just that.

She still hadn't said a word to me by the time we were halfway home.

"Pippa, please, just say something. Are you not feeling well?" I said, hoping that might be the reason for her radio silence.

"No, I'm not actually," she finally snapped. "Hence I did not love getting woken up by a call from my best friend, asking me to rescue her from jail!" At least she was talking to me now, even if she was yelling the words. "And to hear that you've been out investigating, no less! Staking out Olive Styles house, no doubt!"

"Pippa," I said, leaning my head against the car seat. "You were asleep. And unwell. What kind of friend would I be if I'd woken you up and asked you to come with me?"

"A loyal one?" she snapped back.

"It was nothing important, Pippa."

"It was important enough for the cops to arrest you." Pippa just stared ahead at the road.

I was silent. But Pippa wasn't finished. "Were you on your own?"

"Yes," I answered quickly.

"Really?" she asked, leaning her head to the side a little. "You were up at the rich part of town, stalking Olive Styles’ house on your own?"

"I already said yes, Pippa."

"Funny," she said. "Considering you left your car at home and I'm driving it right now. How did you get there?"

Shoot.

I closed my eyes and leaned my head back again. "Fine, okay," I said quietly. "I went there with Chloe."

Pippa slammed her foot on the brakes, sending me rocketing forward before my seatbelt caught me. "Pippa, what are you doing? You rescue me from jail and now you're trying to kill me?"

"I knew it," she said. She sounded more hurt than angry. I would have preferred her angry. "I knew that you were working the case with her. So what, the great and amazing Chloe has replaced me at work AND as your detective sidekick? Is that what’s happened, Rachael?"

"No," I said. "You're being ridiculous, Pippa. Please keep driving. We're stopped right in the middle of the road, for crying out loud!"

"You could have at least been honest with me, Rachael, rather than going behind my back like this." She almost sounded like she was about to cry. Geez, I'd only worked a case with another person. It wasn't like I'd cheated on her or something. I wondered if all this anger was a little misdirected; if it shouldn't have been directed at her wayward husband Marcello, who was currently overseas in Spain and in Pippa's bad books. I felt annoyed that I was copping the blame for his bad behavior and I wanted to say something, but it really wasn't the time.

"Don't you have something to say for yourself, Rachael?" Pippa asked.

"Yes," I said. "Thank you for picking me up from the station. I'd really like to go home now. And, Pippa, I'm starting to think that some time apart might be a little healthy for us."

She slammed her foot down on the accelerator. "Fine by me, if that's what you want!'" she yelled. We drove the rest of the way home in silence.

* * *

P
ippa didn't speak
to me again until the next morning when she had to inform me we were out of milk because she had drunk it all. I don't think she was really informing me so much as rubbing it in that I would have to drink my coffee black, which I hated and she knew it.

"So are you being charged?" Pippa asked.

I wanted to say,
what do you care
, but I didn't.

"Trespassing," I said as I sat down to sip on my bitter black coffee. I would have to show up in court for it in a couple of months, but a trespassing charge didn't faze me at all right then. I was more focused on making sure I stayed away from a murder charge.

And I had gotten lucky in one respect: Angel Styles had never gotten a good look at me. That meant that the next part of my plan was still able to come together. If I could just convince Chloe to come with me on one last task. I figured she'd be a little gun-shy after the previous night, so I was surprised to get a call from her before I'd even managed to choke back my black sludge.

I shot a large grin at Pippa. "It's Chloe," I said. "Must be something about the case."

I left her to stew on that while I took the phone call, not even bothering to leave the room this time.
Let Pippa hear the details
, I thought.

"Sure, Chloe," I said loudly, while Pippa rolled her eyes. "I was just thinking the same thing. You'll have to give me an hour or so to get ready, though. We're going to have to get pretty dressed up for this... It's a very important event!" I said, emphasizing the words important event. I knew I was being an annoying brat but I didn't care. It wasn't often that Pippa and I got into a fight and I was taking a moment to revel in winding her up.

I hung up and took a deep breath. "Looks like Chloe and I are going to a party," I said.

"What, at midday on a Tuesday?" Pippa asked, taking the bait even though she immediately looked annoyed at herself.

"Chloe did a little digging. She's good like that," I said with a sly little smile. "Angel Styles is graduating today, and in spite of everything, she is still apparently attending the big party."

Pippa sat up a little straighter. "That sounds suspicious," she said, narrowing her eyes. "She's attending graduation a few days after her mother died? I would‘ve thought she'd have a few bigger priorities right now...or be too devastated to attend."

"Exactly," I said, dropping my bratty attitude by accident. "It's very suspicious, isn't it?" I stopped talking and we both just looked at each other.

"But of course you don't need my help, or any of my opinions on the matter," Pippa said haughtily, returning to her cereal, which I noticed for the first time was drowned in far more milk that she actually needed.

"No, I don't," I said, pouring the rest of my coffee down the drain and placing the empty mug in the sink with a pointed thump. "I'll be just fine with Chloe."