Zombie Waffle Murder (A Wicked Waffle Paranormal Cozy Mystery Book 8)

by Carolyn Q. Hunter

  Swallowing her tears, the young woman waved a hand. “No, no. That’s okay. I’m fine now. It’s disappointing, but it happens.” She was putting on a good show in front of strangers. Sonja would probably do the same in her situation.

  “Well, okay. But you better come and get a free Zombie Waffle at my diner when the race is over.”

  Patty forced a smile. “Sounds like a good idea. Thanks.”

  Giving one final nod to the woman, Sonja picked up another cup of water and downed it. Within the next second, she was back running the course.

  Chapter 4

  Sonja’s legs were burning something fierce as she began the ascent up the steep wooded trail to the falls. She’d made the hike up many times in her life, but never running and never after already going a mile through town and nearly five miles around the lake. It was another mile up to the falls, another mile down, and then another five in the loop back to Haunted Falls and the diner.

  The Zombithon only merited as a half-marathon, clocking in at just over thirteen miles. She couldn’t even fathom running a full twenty-six-mile marathon. That sounded like pure insanity.

  As the trails branched out in various directions, all counted as viable routes for the run just as the announcer had said at the beginning, Sonja soon realized that she saw less and less of her fellow participants. The solemn quiet of nature encompassed her on all sides.

  The chirp of summertime birds and the hush of wind against the pines were her only companions now, it seemed.

  She slowed her pace slightly, her chest feeling a little tight and raw from all the heavy breathing she’d been doing. She tried not to slow down too much and lose her momentum. However, she did want to enjoy the lush wilderness area that she’d loved so much throughout the years.

  She took a moment to reminisce about her family trips—just her, her mother, and her father—as they took this familiar hike at a leisurely pace, eventually coming to the overlook just above the falls. They would throw down a wool blanket on the stone ground and have a picnic lunch of waffle sandwiches. Mini waffles layered with sliced smoked ham, gruyere cheese, and homemade raspberry jelly. A bag of kettle cooked BBQ potato chips often made a delightfully crunchy side.

  Now, as she huffed along the path, she wished for one of those sandwiches right now.

  She made a mental note to ask her mother and father on a special trip up here just to relive the memories and eat the same tasty lunch.

  The low hum of the waterfalls rose up around her, indicating she was getting close. She wouldn’t be going over the overlook today. The marathon path went along the ledge just behind the falls themselves.

  Sonja supposed it was one way for the runners to get a burst of fresh mountain water mist over their bodies and cool down before making the final stretch back toward town. She wondered if she would meet any of the other runners at the falls.

  She knew some of them would probably stop for a rest in the cool shadow of the water.

  The trail curved, and the rushing sound of the waterfall echoed loudly just beyond. As the magnificent rushing water came into view, Sonja gasped. She’d not been up here in a few years and forgot just how breathtaking it was.

  The water cascaded from the top of the cliff, creating a rainbow as it passed through the hot summer rays of light. A simple guardrail and plaque near the top indicated the lookout where she and her parents had picnicked.

  As she jogged forward, a metal sign came into view, warning hikers to use careful footing when taking the trail behind the falls. Slick rocks and a lack of respect for the falls could end with you falling into the deep water below that filtered out into the lake.

  Sonja, following the sign's advice, mostly kept her eyes on her footing. While the ledge was wide enough to accommodate three or four people safely, you could just never be too careful.

  Glancing up again to see how close she was, she spotted a glimmer of defused blue light move behind the water in a quick motion. Her heart skipped a beat and her hairs along her arms and neck stood up straight—and it wasn’t a result of the coolness of the falls.

  No, there was a ghost behind the falls.

  The question now was, could it be the same one she’d spotted earlier that week in the woods just outside her home?

  There was only one way to find out.

  Finishing the climb, she came up behind the falls herself. The space opened up into a small cavern that seemed remarkably dark. She remembered walking by it as a child and being too afraid to ever venture back into the inky blackness—despite her father saying that it only went about ten to fifteen feet on a curve into the cliffside before ending.

  Now, after witnessing the potential spirit who was hanging around, she felt compelled to check it out. After all, most of the runners seemed to be either far ahead of her or far behind. She was alone for a moment to do a bit of investigating.

  She also could use the break.

  Walking into the cave for the first time ever in her life, she realized that the floor sloped down dramatically at an angle. Additionally, the roof narrowed inward. This, along with the curve in the path, made the very small cave seem very dark.

  Shuffling carefully along the dirt, not wanting to fall due to the angle of the floor, she saw the back wall come into view. It was only dimly lit by the light beyond the falls, but enough for her to tell.

  There didn’t appear to be the unearthly glow or the tingle that she so had grown accustomed to. The ghost had gone on.

  She chuckled out loud, hearing her voice echo off the cavern walls. This little hole in the rock had scared her so much as a kid. Seemed awfully silly now.

  Turning to head back out and continue her run down the mountain, her foot brushed against something.

  “Huh?” she said out loud. Glancing down, she saw that she’d passed a pair of sneakers—presumably with feet still in them—laying top down.

  The chill returned, but this time with a vengeance.

  “Oh, my goodness. No,” she whispered. Squatting down to get a better look.

  It appeared to be Ruby, one of the four athletes she’d served at the diner the day before. Sticking out of her back was a long steel arrow.

  Chapter 5

  “It’s this way, Frank,” she instructed her husband, leading him back toward the falls. She had called him on his cell phone to see how far out he’d managed to run. Luckily, he wasn’t too far ahead of her, keeping a good pace. Also, it was a miracle that their cell service connected this far out from town.

  “Was she breathing? Did you check her vital signs?”

  “I don’t think so,” Sonja admitted grimly, leading him up the path. A few runners could be seen coming out of the woods and starting up toward the falls on the other side.

  “Hold on you guys,” Frank yelled across to them.

  Sonja recognized Laura and Hathorne Dawner, an older couple who ran an ice cream shop in Haunted Falls.

  “What’s wrong, Sheriff?” Laura yelled back up over the boom of the falls, using Frank’s official title.

  “We think one of the runners might be injured. Just stay down there for now and stop anyone else coming this way.”

  “Oh, my. I hope it isn’t serious,” Laura said.

  Stepping behind the water and at the entrance to the cave, Frank put a hand on Sonja’s arm to stop her. “Just in there, you said?”

  “Yeah. She was lying face down.”

  “You stay here and call search and rescue. Can you do that?”

  “On it,” she agreed, stepping out from behind the falls to get away from the rushing waters. Again, it seemed like a miracle that she got through to emergency services, giving them her location and the possible situation.

  “Is the victim seriously injured?” the woman on the line asked.

  “Yes. She seems to have been hit with some sort of hunting arrow,” Sonja noted. She couldn’t help but wonder if this was truly some sort of accident or if it was an intentional attack.

  “I see. Hav
e you checked her vital signs? Breathing? Pulse?”

  “I did, but I couldn’t find any sign of life. I’m afraid she might be dead,” Sonja said, feeling slightly shaken. It didn’t seem to matter how many times she saw a dead body, it always freaked her out—and rightfully so.

  She would hate to see the day where she was desensitized to it.

  “Okay, the search and rescue teams are on their way to your location. Sit tight.”

  “Thanks,” she returned, hanging up the phone. Just as she did, she saw Frank come out of the darkness.

  He was shaking her head. “She’s gone.”

  “Oh, no,” Sonja gasped.

  “Seems the arrow went clean through the body. Hopefully, she died on impact,” he noted. He looked a bit pale and tired, obviously not having planned on a homicide investigation on today of all days.

  He looked a bit odd with his serious expression and his goofy costume make-up. The sticky fake blood seemed almost disrespectful seeing as someone was actually dead.

  “That was a hunting arrow, wasn’t it?” she said in more of a statement than a question.

  “Maybe,” he said.

  “Metal arrows are used for hunting. Wooden ones are used for target practice against straw bales,” she pointed out, vaguely remembering her archery and recreational hunting classes from high school. She looked Frank in the eye. “Do you think this could have been an accident?”

  “If it was, someone was breaking the law by hunting in this area. Since it’s a hiking trail through here, hunters aren’t allowed to use firearms or weaponry of any kind.” He motioned backward to indicate the body behind the waterfall. “It’s to prevent this kind of thing from happening.”

  Sonja bit her lower lip. “So, do you think it’s murder then?” she asked the most pressing question on her mind.

  “I can’t say for sure and we shouldn’t discuss it if it is,” he reminded her.

  “You’re right,” she agreed.

  “You should probably head down to the diner.”

  “What should I tell them?”

  “Don’t mention murder or even that she’s dead. Just say there was an accident. I don’t want the rumor mill going on full speed too quickly here.”

  “Understood,” she said, hearing the familiar thrum of a helicopter in the distance approaching the falls. “Okay, I’ll see you back in town,” she agreed, not wanting to get in the way or overstep her bounds. She’d done that many times throughout the past few years, and it always created a rift between her and Frank.

  Now that they were married, and lived together, she wanted to keep things as smooth as possible. Frank was a professional and knew what he was doing. She trusted that he would take care of it.

  She turned to go, but Frank called her back. “Hey, just a second.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Do the initials CC mean anything to you?”

  Sonja frowned, trying to figure out why he was asking this question right now. Then, suddenly, she remembered another piece of seemingly useless information from her archery course in high school.

  Sometimes, during competitions, each archer’s arrow would be marked with their name or initials, to tell them apart when scoring was done. This practice was usually only enforced when multiple competitors were firing one by one at the same target.

  “No, those initials don’t ring a bell.” She hesitated, wondering if she would be prying to ask more. “They were on the arrow, weren’t they?”

  Frank’s silence answered that question. “If there is anything else you can think of that might come in handy, you let me know,” he told her.

  “Well, since you asked.” She proceeded to share the tidbit of information about initialed arrows. That clue could help point to a culprit, but what killer would be stupid enough to use one of their own arrows on a victim?

  Unless, of course, this was an accident as they first assumed. If it was an accident, why not tell the authorities right away?

  What other possible secrets could these woods be hiding?

  That’s when Sonja remembered it—the blue colored light behind the falls. She’d totally forgotten all about the presence of a spirit after she’d found the body.

  “Uhm, Frank?”

  “Yeah, Sonj’?”

  “I think I may have seen a ghost up here, right before I found the body.”

  Frank’s lips tightened. The sound of the chopper had grown louder, and Sonja spotted it hovering over them, slowly coming down with EMTs at the ready.

  Frank looked at her one more time. “Okay. Head back to town. We’ll talk about this after I get things settled here.”

  Chapter 6

  “Oooh, my gosh. I’m so sore,” Sonja grumbled, wobbling in through the back door of the diner the following morning. “That marathon killed me,” she complained, suddenly stopping and realizing the irony of what she’d just said.

  It was true, she might be in a bit of pain from the run, but that was it. She wasn’t dead or anything—not like Ruby. She really was dead, murdered in fact.

  As Sonja had thought about the events of the day before, she was certain this couldn’t have been an accident.

  Turning from her work of chopping up fresh onions, button mushrooms, and green peppers for any upcoming omelet orders, Ally’s jaw dropped. Closing her mouth, she put her hand on her hip, tapping the tip of her knife on the cutting board in a scolding manner. “You have a husband now, you know?”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” Sonja asked, confused about how her stiffness and pain from the marathon the day before could have any relation to Frank.

  “Why not have him give you a massage? I mean, it is sort of his fault that you ended up all in knots like this,” she reminded her friend.

  Sonja rolled her eyes, hanging her purse on the coat hanger and removing the apron. Tying it around her back, she headed over to the counter to start some more breakfast prep. “That would have been a great idea if he hadn’t been gone all night,” she pointed out.

  “Gone all night?” Ally gasped.

  “Yep. At the station going over the case. Checking fingerprints, doing in-home lab tests, researching records online. The works.”

  “How could he just not come home?”

  “He has a job to do. You know that,” Sonja informed her friend. However, the night before, she herself hadn’t expected it. Frank’s potentially long hours and late nights were something she hadn’t considered before they got married.

  However, it only made sense, seeing as a homicide investigation was underway.

  “I guess. I just never thought of it before,” Ally admitted, turning back to her chopping.

  “Anyway, I popped a couple of aspirin before heading here for the day. Hopefully, those kick in soon and I can get down to work with no problems.” She reached up and pulled off an order slip, reading it. “Someone wants the Zombie Waffle?”

  “Yeah, requests have been flooding in since we opened a half-hour ago,” Ally said. “Yesterday, a lot of people didn’t stick around at the finish line after the announcement of the accident.”

  “More like murder,” Sonja noted.

  “So, a lot of them are here this morning and have been patiently waiting for you to show up to make the Zombie Waffles.”

  “Me? Why did you need me here?”

  “It isn’t on the special board, so I wasn’t sure you’d want to serve it.”

  Sonja shrugged, giving a warm smile. “If they’re asking for it, I’ll gladly make it. Just give me a few minutes.”

  Grabbing out all the necessary ingredients, Sonja created a line-up on the counter for efficient cooking. Using eggs, flour, and buttermilk she created her signature base for the waffle. Once that was all combined properly, she added the ricotta cheese and gave it another stir. “And now for the main event,” she whispered, picking up the zester.

  Taking both a lemon and lime, she shaved off a little bit of the rinds and added it into the batter. When that was done, she added
the fruit’s juices themselves. The zesty yet sweet scent wafted up toward her and she knew these were going to be amazing.

  The final ingredient was a dash of green food coloring.

  The waffle iron she’d plugged in had its orange indicator light on, meaning it was hot and ready to use. Lifting the lid, she poured in the batter. Sizzling on contact, steam rose up from the iron and filled the kitchen with the delicious scent.

  “Oh, man, that smells amazing,” Allison complimented her friend.

  “Not so gross now, is it?”

  “You’re right. I’d eat it.”

  Smirking, Sonja got to work on the raspberry sauce for the top. It required a combination of frozen raspberries, pre-prepared raspberry gelatin, sugar, and syrup. The sugar and syrup went into the pan first, heated at a low and slow rate until it melded into one delicious sauce. The frozen raspberries went in next, easily melting into the mix and turning it a bright bloody red.

  The mixture was removed from the heat and cooled slightly before the gelatin from the fridge was added in. That’s what gave it the real soupy yet chunky texture.

  “It looks disgusting, but smells delicious,” Ally said, leaning over the bowl of brains.

  “Let’s just hope that the customers like it. Which table has been waiting for the longest? I’ll take theirs out myself.”

  Ally hesitated, a look of trepidation in her sparkling eyes.

  “What is it?” Sonja asked.

  “Just a fair warning, Sonj’. The first customers I seated this morning were that girl and her boyfriend.”

  Sonja didn’t need a further explanation. She knew exactly what Ally meant. Ruby’s group was here, probably looking to distract themselves from the horrors of the day before. They’d all been devastated by the young woman’s sudden death.

  Sonja had not enjoyed being the one to tell them. She’d done as Frank had asked and only mentioned there was an accident, but when Patty came up and was asking all sorts of questions—especially where her sister was—Sonja broke down and told her.