Tragic Toppings (24 page)

“Well, you won’t find it by digging into my mother’s life, or mine, either.”

“I understand,” I said.

“I hope so.”

I couldn’t just leave it at that. Her friendship meant too much to me. “Penny, can we put this behind us? I didn’t mean any harm by it.” I didn’t want to lose a good friend, especially if her mother was really innocent. I knew if she wasn’t innocent, and Jake and I found out, I’d lose Penny forever, but we hadn’t come to that yet, and I hoped we never would.

Penny shrugged. “I just don’t like seeing her ambushed like that.”

I took her hands in mine. “Penny, I’ll make you a deal. If I speak with her again, I’ll call you first and you can go with me. How does that sound?”

She started to smile, then bit it back down again. “Okay, I guess that would work. Now if you two will excuse me, I’ve got to go. My shift at the plasma bank starts in an hour, and I want time to grab a quick bite first.”

After she was gone, Jake and I went out to his car. On the way, he asked, “Why did you tell her you’d let her go with you next time?”

“Because it probably won’t be me, anyway,” I said. “I have a feeling if Gina Parsons merits a return visit, you’ll be doing it alone, or with George. It was an easy promise to make, and if her mother’s innocent, I don’t want our friendship to be dead by collateral damage. Do you understand?”

“Perfectly,” he said as he reached out and squeezed my hand for a moment before releasing it again. “You wouldn’t be you without doing something like that.”

“I’m not sure I’d want to be,” I said. I glanced at my watch, and then added, “It looks like our bartender should be starting her shift any minute.”

“Then let me buy you a Coke,” Jake said.

*   *   *

The bar was nearly empty again when we walked in, and I wondered what kind of crowd they must have at night to justify staying open at all. There were a few stragglers at the bar, but Orson Blaine wasn’t one of them.

A tall brunette with piercing blue eyes and a full figure was working behind the bar, though.

“You must be Laney,” Jake said as we approached.

“If you say so, handsome, then I must be. What can I do for you?” At that moment, she seemed to recognize him somehow, and after she hesitated a second, the bartender reached for a baseball bat behind the counter. “Go on. Get out. You’re not welcome here.”

“Slow down,” Jake said as he held his hands up in the air. “What’s the problem?”

“I heard you were following me around all day. I’ve had a stalker before, so believe me, I know how to deal with you creeps.” She glanced at me and added, “That’s a nice touch, bringing another girl along as window dressing. Now, are you going to walk out of my bar on your own, or am I going to have to make you crawl out on your hands and knees? It’s your choice, sport. I honestly don’t care.”

Jake pulled back his jacket slowly and showed his badge. “I’m working on a case.”

The bat lowered when she saw his shield. “So, tell me. What’s so urgent that it couldn’t wait until now?”

Jake shrugged. “I didn’t know you’d be here until I got to the last stop this morning. I’m not shadowing you, trust me.”

“I will, for now,” she conceded as she put the bat back under the bar. From the way she’d held it, I was pretty sure no one ever bothered her more than once. “A girl can’t be too careful. What can I do for you after I serve you both drinks?”

“We’ll take two Cokes,” Jake said, and after she poured them, he paid, leaving her a tip worth more than the sodas had cost.

“You know what? Suddenly I feel like talking,” Laney said as she pocketed the change.

“It’s about Orson Blaine,” Jake said.

“Him,” Laney responded as she rolled her eyes. “That man’s clearly in love.”

“With you?” I asked. If it was true, it ran counter to everything we’d learned about the man so far.

Laney laughed at the suggestion. “Hardly. It’s with whoever’s pouring him his next drink.”

So much for that angle of our investigation.

“Do you happen to know if he was here the night Tim Leander was murdered?” Jake asked. “You were working that shift, I already checked.”

“I was here, and so was he. Orson kept drinking, and by the time he left, he was too broke to order another, which was just as well, since I was getting ready to cut him off, anyway.”

“How can you be so sure he was here all night?” I asked.

Laney frowned. “It wasn’t all that tough. In fact, it was a pretty memorable night. I don’t know where he got it, but Orson paid me with a hundred-dollar bill, and when I told him I didn’t have enough change, he bought a dozen friends a drink.”

“Was that unusual for him?” Jake asked.

“About like a lunar eclipse on a Tuesday,” Laney replied.

“Do you happen to know any of his drinking buddies?” I asked.

“I’ve never seen them before, or since, but they sure were a rowdy bunch. I had to run one of them out of the women’s bathroom, and when I finally got him out, another one was behind the bar helping himself to our Scotch,” she answered, as she poured a beer and served it to a man at the end of the bar without missing a beat.

“This part is important,” Jake said. “Did he ever leave the bar for anything that night?”

Laney frowned, and then pointed to a booth in back by the door. “He moved his little party over there, and I couldn’t swear he never slipped out when I wasn’t watching him. Things were nuts that night, and I barely had time to look up. I can’t swear to it, but my gut tells me he never left. Is that it? It’s insulting to the bartender not to take at least one drink of your sodas,” she added as she pointed to our glasses.

I hadn’t touched my Coke, and neither had Jake. We both took small sips, and then Jake said, “If you think of anything else, I’d appreciate it if you’d give me a call,” he said as he slid a card across the bar.

“How about if I don’t, and I just want to chat?” she asked with a full smile, giving him every ounce of her charm. A quick look of irritation must have crossed my face, because she instantly pulled back and addressed me directly. “I’m sorry, I assumed you two were partners, not partners, you know what I mean?”

“No harm, no foul,” I said.

Jake laughed softly under his breath, and we walked out of the bar.

“What was that all about?” I asked.

“It’s funny, but I’ve never had two women fighting over me before.”

“You still haven’t,” I said, and gave him a light kiss on the cheek.

“Are you kidding? Wait until you hear the way I tell it.”

“Dream on, my friend,” I said. “Do we believe her?”

Jake shrugged. “What do you think?”

“She wasn’t exactly unequivocal about her answer, but I think she’s telling the truth, at least as much as she knows it. What about you? Do you have an opinion?”

Jake shook his head. “I’m troubled by what she said, I’ll admit it. Laney told us how she saw it, but I still think that it left time for Orson to slip out, kill Tim and string him up, then get back before anyone noticed he was gone. What if he wasn’t really drunk at all that night? He could have paid those guys to cause a distraction so he could get away.”

“Tell me, do you trust anyone?”

Jake surprised me and took me in his arms, and after a rather nice kiss, he pulled away and said, “I trust
you
.”

“That’s all you need then,” I said.

“You can say that again.” After we got back to his car, I asked, “Do we go looking for Orson now so we can ask him more questions?”

Jake glanced at his watch. “Not tonight. I’m afraid that we’re going to be late as it is.”

“Where are we going?” I asked.

“We have leftovers planned at your house, remember?”

I smiled. “Maybe I should give Momma a heads-up that we’re on our way.”

“You can do it in the car as we drive. I’m starving.”

*   *   *

Momma greeted us at the door with a smile. “Jacob, so nice you could join us.”

“Happy to be here, Dorothy,” he said. Jake inhaled deeply, and added, “You made garlic bread. I love it.”

“Then I’d better have some, too,” I said with a smile.

Momma clicked her tongue. “You know, I never even thought about that.”

“It’s fine,” I said. As we walked into the dining room, I saw that she’d already set the table. It was a pretty elegant way to eat leftovers. “I’m suddenly starving.”

“I am, too,” Jake said. “Can I give you a hand with anything?”

“Thank you, but it’s taken care of. Suzanne, if you’ll serve the salad, I’ll get the main courses ready.”

“I’d love to,” I said as Momma and I walked into the kitchen together. “You really pulled out all the stops, didn’t you?”

“Jacob isn’t here that often. I want to make him feel at home,” she said.

“That’s just one of the reasons I love you,” I said as I gave her a quick hug.

She looked surprised, as well as pleased, by the compliment.

I wasn’t sure which was better, the first time Jake and I had that meal, or this one. It was delicious, that much I knew.

We were just starting to clear the table when there was a knock at the door. I saw Jake instinctively put a hand on his gun. I looked out the side window and saw Chief Martin’s squad car out there. “It’s okay, it’s the chief.”

Jake nodded, and Momma asked, “Would you mind getting the door? He’s probably here for you anyway.”

“I’d be happy to,” Jake said.

I followed, and he grinned at me as he opened the door.

“Hey, Chief,” he said.

“Hello, Jake, Suzanne.”

“What can we do for you?” Jake asked. “Are there any new developments?”

“Not in the case,” he said. “I was wondering if I might have a moment with your mother, Suzanne.”

“Hang on a second. I’ll go get her,” I said.

“Could Jake do it?” the chief asked.

“Certainly,” Jake answered. He looked as puzzled as I’d been by the request.

Once he was in the kitchen, the chief said, “I just wanted to thank you again for the advice.”

I’d nearly forgotten what I’d said when I remembered that I’d told him to be himself. He was certainly doing that, showing up unannounced and still in uniform.

“I hope it helps,” I said as Momma came out of the kitchen, drying her hands on a dish towel.

“Phillip? What is it? Is something wrong?”

“May I have a second of your time on the porch, Dorothy?” he asked. “I promise, I won’t keep you.”

“Certainly,” she agreed, handing me the towel as she passed by me.

The second the front door was closed, I ran to the window to see if I could make out what was going on outside.

Jake looked at me and said, “Suzanne, you’re not spying on your own mother, are you?”

“Not if you keep talking I can’t,” I said. “I can barely hear them as it is.”

“That’s not what I meant, and you know it. Come on, we need to give them both some privacy.”

I shook my head and moved back away from the window. “What fun is that?”

Jake laughed, and I had to smile at him as he said, “I’ve got an idea. Let’s finish up those dishes. The two of them might be a while.”

“You think?” I asked.

“You never know,” he said.

He was actually right. We were nearly finished with the dishes when Momma came back in. There was a smile on her face that I hadn’t seen in a long time.

“What was that all about?” I asked.

“We’re going out again tomorrow night,” she answered. “I must say, something’s changed in that man since the last time we spoke.”

“What exactly is different?”

“He seemed so sure of himself. It was rather nice,” Momma said. “We’re going to the Boxcar Grill tomorrow so we can have a pleasant conversation along with our meal.”

“It’s not really a grand romantic gesture, is it?” I asked.

“That’s exactly why I’m looking forward to it,” Momma answered, and then she noticed that we were working on the dishes. “Heavens, I meant to do those myself before I got distracted. Why don’t you two go into the living room and I’ll finish them up myself.”

“We’ve got it,” I said, and Jake agreed. “You go relax.”

She nodded, and said, “Then I may read a little. This book is just getting to the good part.”

After she was gone, I whispered to Jake, “What was that all about, do you think?”

“It appears you give excellent advice to the lovelorn,” he said with a smile.

“I guess, but honestly, I didn’t mean to do that good a job,” I answered.

“Sorry, I’m afraid you can’t take any of it back now. It’s not entirely a bad thing, is it, seeing your mother that happy?”

“I’m all for it,” I said. “I just hope this date turns out better than the first few did.”

Jake kissed me, surprising me so much I nearly dropped the glass in my hand. “We didn’t exactly have an ideal beginning ourselves, but look how we’re turning out.”

I smiled. “I guess there’s hope for the world, then.”

“At least for the Hart women,” he answered.

CHOCOLATE DONUTS

These donuts are more of a dense and crisp donut than a cake one, and though they’re a little on the heavy side, we like them for a change of pace from our regular glazed donuts. It’s amazing how just a little icing adds another layer of flavor to these donuts.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 egg, beaten

• ½ cup sugar

• 1 tablespoon butter, melted

• ¼ cup bittersweet chocolate, melted

• 1 tablespoon cinnamon

• ½ cup whole milk

• 2 cups all purpose flour

• 1 teaspoon baking powder

DIRECTIONS

Beat the egg, then add butter, sugar, and cinnamon, and then finally the melted chocolate. In a separate bowl, sift the flour and baking powder together, then slowly add to the egg mixture. Roll out the dough to about a quarter inch, then use a biscuit or donut cutter to cut out the rounds and holes.

Cook in canola oil at 360 to 375 degrees for two and a half minutes on each side or until dark brown. Drain, dust with powdered sugar or add icing or sprinkles per your taste.

Makes about 8 donuts.

CHAPTER 16

Just before we were set to open the next morning, Emma came up front and asked me, “I forgot to ask. When is the funeral? We’re not going to miss it, are we?”