by Lynn Cahoon
Was Brett the ex-fiancé? And had Carol been trying to prove his guilt? Or his innocence? She pulled out her phone and took pictures of the notebook entries. Then she went to the file cabinet. If there were wills in this sea of paper, she’d have them put away, somewhere. Especially if she planned on cashing in after the guy’s death.
Luckily, the file was in the top drawer. Carol had three files in the will section and a stack of blank wills also in the drop file.
Angie glanced through each will and found the listed heir. In each case, it was Carol. And the wills were all dated within the last few years. Angie leaned on the desk, breathing hard. What exactly had Hope brought them to? Was Carol some sort of medical black widow? Not marrying the men, but taking care of them for the sole purpose of inheriting whatever riches they had at the end?
And worse, was she hurrying things along? Angie needed to talk to Ian’s uncle, Allen Brown. He was the River Vista police chief and he could tell her if she was just seeing unicorns when there were really only horses.
She snapped pictures of the three wills, then put them back and looked around the room. She thought it looked like she hadn’t been there. She turned around and ran straight into a man who’d been watching her.
“Oh, excuse me.” She tried to walk around him. but he moved in front of her. “I’m expected in the kitchen.”
“Actually, everyone’s outside putting out a fire near the garden. You and your dog are cramping my style. Maybe you should get in your vans and leave tonight like Carol suggested.” He leaned close and touched her hair. “You smell like lavender. I do love a fresh floral on my girls.”
“One problem with that. I’m not your girl.” Angie knew who was standing in front of her. The framed picture of Brett had been in Carol’s trash. She could see Dom coming up behind the man, his teeth bared. She decided to push her luck and guess at a few things. “My dog doesn’t like you at all. You should leave now, Brett. Carol threw you out once. She shouldn’t have to do it again.”
“Leave Carol to me. There’s no way I’m letting her get all that money when the next two guys croak. Besides, the girl’s in love with me.” His eyes hardened. “Most girls want me.”
Dom growled behind him.
“One last chance, leave now. Or Dom will chase you out,” Angie warned. Dom was over one hundred fifty pounds, or had been at his last vet checkup. She thought he could hold his own with Brett as long as the guy didn’t have a gun or a knife on him.
He held up his hands and moved toward the side of the hallway. Dom watched and moved with him until the dog was standing in front of Angie, and Brett had a clear path to the doorway. Or it would have been a clear path. Now Carol stood there, a bag in her hands and anger on her face.
“I thought I told you never to come back.” Carol advanced toward Brett. “You get your sorry butt out of my house.”
“Our house. And our realtor wants to put it on the market. She has a buyer, sight unseen. And it’s a good price. You just need to get the last two old coots out of here. I’ve been trying to help.” Brett’s tone changed and Angie could see why women fell for him. He had a silver tongue built for lying.
“You hurt Kendrick, didn’t you?” Carol shook her head. “I didn’t want to believe it. But you hurt Kendrick and you killed Phil. Just for money.”
“Not just for money, for you. For us.” He stared at her, then at Angie. “Now look what you did. We have a loose thread we need to snip off. Kendrick wasn’t supposed to be the one in the hospital. Randy was my target, but the dog wouldn’t let me in the room.” He started toward Angie, and Dom stood, baring his teeth.
“Brett, stop. Leave her alone. And just leave. I won’t call the cops if you go now and never come back.” Carol’s eyes brimmed with tears. “Please get out of my life.”
“Actually, you don’t have to call the cops, I’ve already done that for you and they’re here.” Ian stood behind Carol. He placed his hands on her shoulders, then moved her behind him as officers ran in with guns drawn and surrounded Brett.
Once they had him handcuffed, Dom let out a bark and turned to give Angie a sloppy kiss.
“I’m all right. Thanks for the assist there.” She knelt and gave him a hug. “You’re awesome.”
“Stupid dog,” Brett muttered.
Police Chief Allen Brown stared at him. “You have the right to remain silent. I suggest you follow that instruction. Brandon, read him his rights. Angie, are you all right?”
“I’m fine, but I’m confused. Why are you here?”
Bleak came around Ian. “I called him as soon as I saw that guy set the fire. Everyone ran outside to put it out and I knew something was going on. I had Allen on the phone when he came into the house through the side door. I put Allen on speaker phone and got as close to you as possible without being seen. After calling Dom to help, of course.”
“Lucky I was out in the county doing a drive around today or it would have taken me twice as long to get here from the station.” Chief Brown hugged Bleak. “You did right by calling me. Even if you weren’t quite sure what was going on. You have good instincts. Maybe you should go into police work rather than hospitality when you go to college.”
“You’re just saying that to be nice.” Bleak blushed but had a huge smile on her face.
Angie grinned at the newest member of the County Seat family. She had followed Angie’s instructions, but broken them when she saw danger. And she’d improvised. “I’m proud of you. Thanks for saving me.”
“I wouldn’t have allowed him to hurt you,” Carol said from the side of the hallway. “I’m tired of people getting hurt. Chief Brown? I think I have the evidence to allow you to convict Brett for murder. Along with several other crimes.”
“I did it all for you. For us,” Brett screamed as the officers dragged him out of the house. “We were supposed to be together forever.”
“That would have been a very long time.” Ian came to Angie and took her in his arms. “I’m glad Dom took care of my light work.”
Angie laughed and relaxed into his arms. “I can’t believe he thought he could get away with killing whoever he wanted. I’m sorry I was snooping, Carol, but I wanted to see if Kendrick had made you his heir.”
Carol nodded. “He did. And so did Randy. I guess I thought I was helping, giving them a person to take care of. I should have realized that Brett was poisoning them.”
“Do you mind coming into the station with us? I’ve got some questions that need clearing up.” Ian’s Uncle Allen took Carol’s arm and started leading her out of the hallway.
“Wait, we need the proof.” Carol picked up a tote bag that was sitting on a chair. Then she tucked all the papers and the notebook into the bag. She stopped and looked at Angie. “Will you stay with Randy until I get back?”
“He won’t be left alone, I promise.” Angie met Carol’s gaze and the woman nodded.
She smiled. “I believe you.”
Then Carol walked out of the house at Allen’s side. The County Seat crew filed into the hallway.
“Let’s go into the living room and sit. I’ll tell you all about what happened there.” Angie led the way and then explained the last few minutes to the people who meant the most to her. Her work family.
Chapter 8
The next morning, Angie made a special breakfast. Bacon, made-to-order omelets, muffins, hash browns, fruit bowls, and mimosas. The front door opened just as she was finishing with the fixings for the omelets.
“I’m here with the package,” Ian called out.
Angie wiped her hands on a towel and went out to the living room.
Jacob and Mai Owens stood there looking around with not two but three children. Randy was going to be surprised. Angie stepped over and held out her hand. “Mr. Owens, I’m Angie Turner. Are you ready to talk to your father?”
He shook her hand, cov
ering hers with his other hand. “We’ve been trying to make contact since Mom died. First, he wouldn’t talk to anyone. Then he just disappeared. I’ve been so worried. I thought maybe he was drinking his pain away.”
“No, he was here.” Angie smiled at the woman, who was too pretty and had all three children cuddled next to her. They were all touching her. Her hand, her arm, her shoulder. The kids were scared. “Let’s go talk to him and then I’ll bring in your breakfast trays. Any requests for omelets?”
“Denver, please,” the young girl called out and her mother smiled down at her.
“Denver will work for all of us. Thank you for making our breakfast. It’s not often a chef of your caliber cooks for a family event.” Mai put her hands on the kids and met her husband’s gaze. “I’m ready when you are.”
“Then let’s go talk to Dad.” He straightened his shoulders and girded his loins against the fight he thought was coming. Instead, he was going to be met with love and attention, something he’d probably thought his dad would never give him.
Angie loved it when people outshone others’ expectations of them and were even cooler. Randy’s son and family could have refused to be part of the old man’s life after the pain he’d caused, but they’d been open to at least starting a dialogue. Angie hung back and let the group go inside the room. Dom was in there with Randy but when Jacob and Mai went in, Angie called him out.
“This is a family reunion, big guy.” She patted his side and he followed her as she went back into the kitchen to cook.
As she finished fixing the details of breakfast, Angie pulled out the list of things that needed to be done. Carol needed to get new residents into the building now that she was probably losing Randy. And before that could happen, she needed to be cleared of the legal issues and the house needed fixing. She read out the next items on the lists. “We have one more day here. What are we going to do now?”
* * * *
After breakfast, Angie waited for the family to leave before going into Randy’s room. He was sitting at the window, watching the world pass by, but Angie could see a weight had been lifted off the older man’s shoulders. “Okay if I pull out these dirty dishes?”
“You do what you need to do. Don’t mind an old man reminiscing.” Randy greeted Dom as if he hadn’t seen him forever. “I hear you were a brave boy yesterday.”
Dom slapped his tail on the floor several times. Then he wandered the room.
“He was amazing. How did your visit go?”
He shook his head and Angie’s heart sank. Maybe Jacob had told him it was too late to try?
“They have a mother-in-law suite that they are moving me into next week. I’m going to live with them. Even with all the trouble I caused, they forgave me.” He blinked away tears. “But you didn’t tell me how you found them.”
“Ian got a call from the other grandfather. He told us where to find Jacob and Mai. He said it was only right to honor the elderly.” She thought of the words that Ian had repeated to her, mostly because he’d not believed it himself. “Be good with the kids. I hate to see you back in one of these after being hardheaded about something else. Like the proper way to fry a chicken.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll be on my best behavior. And when I’m not, I’ll try. That’s all I can do, right?”
She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. “I’m so happy for you.”
As she left the room, Ian took the stacked trays. “You did a good thing here.”
“Your uncle would say I was meddling again.”
He laughed and nodded. “I can’t argue that. But you did a great job. I was busy finding the clues to put a family together and you were trying to convince everyone that someone had been murdered. Never an easy feat.”
“Maybe not easy, but easier with you and my County Seat crew.” She motioned toward the counter by the sink. “Set those down and I’ll finish washing dishes. Then we need to run into town and buy enough food to fill these cupboards.”
As Angie washed dishes she thought about the last few days. Another solid case solved by the Scooby-Doo crew. She loved her friends and family. And that was the way it should be.
Recipe – Baked Apple Cider Muffins
One of the things I loved to do with my family when I was younger was make donuts. We’d roll the soft dough out on the counter and cut them with the one donut cutter we had. The dough kept getting stuck and the middle would fall out and stick to the donut. We’d have to keep dipping it in flour to keep it from sticking. I was the next to youngest so I my job was to cut the donuts. My sister would slip them into the hot oil and watch them bubble up to the surface and rescue them before they burned.
Then, we’d put them into a paper bag with cinnamon and sugar and toss them until they were coated with the sweet concoction. Heaven.
This recipe is baked into muffins so there’s no deep fryer required, but you still get the taste of a Sunday morning donut.
Baked Apple Cider Muffins
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees
Mix together the following and set aside:
1 3/4 cup flour
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
2 tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
In a stand mixer bowl -cream butter with the sugar
10 tbsp softened butter
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
Add in the following one at a time and mix until smooth
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup apple cider
Slowly add and mix the flour mixture. Pour into a muffin tin (spray with oil first). Bake for 15-20 minutes. You can make these in an oiled donut pan too (bake time is 12-15 minutes.)
Brush the top of the muffin with melted butter and sprinkle cinnamon sugar over the top. (1/4 cup sugar and 1 tbsp cinnamon.)
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TWO WICKED DESSERTS
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Chapter 1
Mia Malone watched as her grandmother, Mary Alice Carpenter, stared at the notes from her grimoire. The book’s pages were that lovely cream color old books get, but the ink used to write the spells ranged from standard black or blue to the more recent done in colored ink. Where she’d found the glitter pens, Mia didn’t know. Her own grimoire was out on the large desk in the room. She didn’t have half as many spells as her grandmother, but hers were neat and tidy in the large book. Even from the beginning.
“I’m certain I have the ingredients right. This spell should have worked.” Grans peered at Mia over her round wire-rimmed glasses. Mr. Darcy sat on the large bench in the middle of what used to be a chemistry lab before the school had closed. Mia had purchased the school to save it from being torn down for a strip mall as well as to open her own catering company and cooking school in Magic Springs, Idaho.
So far, the catering jobs and takeout business she’d snagged had kept the large, empty building heated and food on the table, but Mia hoped the classes would start to put her monthly profit and loss statement in the black. She needed a slush fund for slow times. But she’d worry about that later.
Right now, they were trying to help her cat. Mr. Darcy had taken on an unexpected visitor when he interrupted one of Grans’s spells after her beau, Dorian Alexander, had been killed by a rival coven leader. Mr. Darcy had been host
to Dorian’s spirit for several months now and even if he wasn’t Mia’s familiar, she’d be able to see he was tired of sharing his body.
Right now, he stared at Grans, waiting for her to put things back. He tapped his left foot twice, a signal he was getting impatient.
“She’s doing the best she can,” Mia stroked his fur and he nuzzled his face into her hand. Then he gave Mary Alice one last stare, let out a loud meow, and jumped off the bench. He ran to the closet where the secret outdoor passage hid, pawed it open, and disappeared. Mia stared after him. “I guess he was done talking.”
“He’s probably out hunting moles in the yard. Dorian always did like the outdoors. Although he used to hunt deer and use a rifle or a bow rather than his teeth.” Grans pushed a strand of hair out of her face. “I really am trying. I love having Dorian around, but I know Mr. Darcy deserves his body back. Maybe I could transfer Dorian into that grandfather clock in my living room.”
“If we’re doing that, shouldn’t we be performing this spell at your place?” Mia wasn’t sure her grandmother really wanted to release Dorian. While he was in Mr. Darcy, she could park him here at the school with Mia. If she released him into the clock, he’d be with her twenty-four seven.
“Dear, Dorian and I were just beginning our courtship. Don’t you think it’s too early for him to be moving in?” Grans shut the grimoire and glanced around the room. “Do you think I need to take the book upstairs while we have dinner? Or will it be safe here?”
“With half the town knowing where the secret entrance is and the fact I can’t seem to keep a lock on that closet door, you should bring it upstairs.” She grabbed the book and then walked over for her own, carefully holding them separate. The books fought when they touched each other, a situation that her grandmother couldn’t explain. “Come on and let’s cook.”
It was a pretty spring day in Magic Springs. Mia stared out the large windows overlooking the mountain range the town had been named for and wished she was outside with Mr. Darcy. Wildflowers had begun to bloom out in the woods past the grassy backyard and she wanted to walk the back area so she could figure out where she was putting her garden plot.
