Nosy Neighbor: All 7 complete Nosy Neighbor cozy mysteries PLUS: 2 short Christmas stories (A Nosy Neighbor mystery)

by Cynthia Hickey

  “I should be on the force. I noticed the same things you did. With your training, you should have noticed something else. Don’t beat yourself up that they outran you. They had a big head start.”

  “I was kind of busy covering you.” He wiggled his eyebrows. “Which was nice, by the way. You’re soft.”

  “For Pete’s sake.” Mom stood. “The two of you are being ridiculous. Matt, I’ll fix you a bed on the sofa. Stormi, upstairs.” She pointed that way. “You need your rest. It’s been a long day.”

  “Yes, Mom.” I stood a bit unsteadily and made my way up the stairs where Sadie waited for me behind the closed bedroom door. “Oh, honey, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to lock you in here. It’s freezing.” I must have closed her in after changing from out of Angela’s dress. I went to pull down my covers.

  My hand froze halfway to the quilt covering my bed. On my pillow was a single sheet of copy paper. Typed in a large font were the words, “Next time I won’t miss. Finish the book!”

  23

  “Matt!”

  Thundering feet told me of his and Ryan’s approach. I pointed at the note when they barged into the room, hoping they would be able to lift fingerprints. We were way overdue for a break.

  “Sadie was locked in here. That’s why she didn’t bark. Whoever was here, is someone she doesn’t feel is a threat.” I rushed to the window.

  Ryan pushed me out of the way. “Stay back.” He parted the curtains, showing the open window.

  Some of the fuzziness from the pain meds flew out the open window. To climb inside, a person would have to use a ladder or the tree. To use the tree would require strength and athletic skill. I peered under Ryan’s arm to see a ladder propped against the house. “Does that belong to Mark Wood? He was going to bring one by, remember?”

  “I’ll add him to the list of people to interview.” Ryan pushed the ladder away from the house and closed the window.

  “It’s time to consider staying somewhere else for a while.” Matt lowered himself to a sitting position on the bed. “This person is not afraid to enter the house, even with two detectives on the premises.

  The lights flickered on in the Salazar’s house. Had they just gotten home? Maybe after being in my house? Everyone was a suspect in my eyes.

  “I don’t want to leave my home. Why wasn’t the alarm set?”

  “We must not have set it when we rushed to the hospital.” Mom glared at me, then flicked her gaze to Matt.

  “Or when we returned,” I said. “Unless the person came in when we were at the hospital. It’s possible I didn’t notice the note when I changed clothes.” In fact, I’d headed straight to the bathroom upon arriving home and hadn’t glanced at the bed.

  Relieved that Sadie hadn’t been locked in my room with a potential murderer, I sat next to Matt. After all, even my scaredy-cat-of-a-dog would have at least barked at an intruder before she hid under the bed. “Is there such a thing as an automatic alarm system? I think my family needs one.”

  “It should never be turned off.” Matt shook his head.

  “One of you needs to get off the bed,” Mom said. “It isn’t proper.”

  I shook my head, choosing to ignore her. With her and Ryan in the room, nothing improper could possibly happen even if Matt and I were so inclined, which we weren’t. He respected my morals. Besides, I could barely hold my eyes open. “I really need to get some sleep.”

  “I’ll check the house, set the alarm, and spend the night on one of the chairs in the living room,” Ryan said. “I have a feeling once Matt closes his eyes, he’ll be out for the count.”

  “That’s for sure. I’m beat.” Matt planted a tender kiss on my forehead and reached out for Ryan to help him to his feet.

  “I’ve a cot you can sleep on. It’s got to be better than the chair. Come down to the basement with me.” Mom slipped her arm through his. “After all this excitement, I’m too nervous to go down there alone.”

  They passed through my sister and her children who watched the proceedings from the doorway. Angela put her arms around her children’s shoulders. “We’re all sleeping together tonight. Tomorrow, we’re going to a hotel.”

  “Gross.” Cherokee pulled away. “I can’t sleep in the same bed as my brother. People will think we’re some kind of freaks.”

  “We are.” I slid under my thick quilt and closed my eyes.

  When I opened my eyes the next morning, the October sun streamed through open curtains. Sadie slumbered peacefully on the bed beside me, reassuring me that Mom must have come in and opened the curtains. The delicious aromas of perking coffee and frying bacon drifted up the stairs and through my open door. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d slept until … I glanced at the clock. Nine a.m.!

  Half the day was gone. I jumped from bed, my knee reminding me in a very unpleasant manner that it was stitched, and rummaged through my closet for something to wear. I still had two chapters to write on the novella. If I slept too much, it wouldn’t be ready for my suspects, uh, advance readers.

  I dressed in yoga pants and another long-sleeved tee-shirt, my winter clothes of choice, then leaned over the banister. “Will someone bring me some coffee, please? I need to work.” I should finish by the end of the day.

  “I’m way ahead of you.” Mary Ann carried a tray into my office. “Matt and Ryan are busy plotting out the best way to get our suspects to spill their guts. Your mother has gone to work, confident in Greta’s ability to protect her. Your niece and nephew are staying home, at Angela’s request, and she has grumpily headed to work.” She set the tray on the end of my desk. “Wait until you see the latest version of the book cover. It’s definitely going to set someone’s temper to flaring.”

  “Good.” I snatched a slice of bacon. “Injuries and near death are becoming too common in this family. We need to end this.”

  With my coffee and breakfast close at hand, I settled down to writing the last five thousand words of what was guaranteed to be a best seller. I might have planned on the novella being trash to coerce a killer out of hiding, but it had turned into something wonderfully thrilling. The perfect in-between story for two books.

  “How are you going to get Cheryl’s copy to her if she’s making open threats against you?” Mary Ann sat in the only other chair in my office, a striped sateen castoff of my mother’s.

  “I haven’t figured that part out yet. Maybe I’ll just leave it on her porch.” I hunched over my keyboard, letting my fingers fly.

  Four hours later, I typed The End and printed off two copies. I clapped my hands and spun in my chair. I was ready to deliver and watch the fireworks.

  “We can’t go anywhere,” Mary Ann informed me, glancing up from her laptop. “The men are gone interrogating the suspects.”

  “Then we’ll go without them.” I couldn’t wait. Not now. I’d worked too hard for this. “I’ve got a gun and a Taser. We’ll be perfectly safe.”

  “I bought a gun, too.” Mary Ann showed me the cutest little twenty-two pistol. “I’ve never shot it, and hope I never have to, but I’ve got it, just in case.”

  “Then let’s go.” I jumped to my feet, my knee instantly reminding me to take things slow, and grabbed the printed copies and my purse. “We have to stop and have these bound. I know they won’t look like a real book, but since I’m releasing it in ebook form at first anyway, it’ll be good enough for its purpose.”

  “I’m excited to see this all finally coming to a close.”

  “Me, too.” I gave her a serious look. “Things could get really dangerous now. We have to be cautious.”

  “Call me Cautious Cathy.” She slung her purse over her shoulder and followed me out the door.

  After making sure the pets were inside, and the two teenagers knew not to leave the house, Mary Ann and I headed for the nearest printer. Thirty minutes later, with two glossy copies of the novella, we went to Cheryl’s house. Mary Ann texted Matthew, telling him of our plans, and ignored the texts he sent demandin
g we return immediately to the house. We would both deal with him later.

  Cheryl’s house still looked vacant. I pulled into the drive and cut the ignition. “Should we knock?”

  Mary Ann shook her head. “I can’t go in there again. I’ll throw up.”

  “Matt said it had been cleaned.”

  “Unless they ripped up carpet, bleached everything, and painted, it isn’t clean enough for me.”

  She was right, making me doubly glad that Rose was safely in a lovely nursing home where people would actually make an effort to keep her company. I planned on paying her a visit as soon as my stalker was behind bars. “I’ll leave the book propped against the door. She won’t be able to miss it.”

  I left the car door open in case I needed to get away fast and limped to the porch. Partially open curtains showed that the house had indeed been emptied of all but the barest of necessities. I doubted the sofa against the wall was new, but if Cheryl didn’t mind sitting on it, why should I complain? I leaned the envelope containing the book against her door and hobbled back to the car.

  “Is she home?” Mary Ann asked.

  “I don’t know.” I honked to attract her attention if she was home and backed onto the road. “Next stop, the library.” Mary Ann’s phone buzzed.

  “My brother has been texting and/or calling every minute. I’m more afraid of going home to see him than facing a murderer.”

  I didn’t fault her there. “We’ll be fine. We’re almost finished and haven’t been gone an hour yet. Tell him to stop overreacting.” My cell phone rang. I glanced at Mary Ann. “Is he mad or are we in danger that we don’t know about?”

  “From his messages, I’d say he’s mad.”

  I bit the inside of my cheek, deciding to answer my phone. “Hey.”

  “What are you doing?”

  “Heading to the library to drop off a copy of the finished book. Didn’t Mary Ann tell you?”

  “Of course she told me! Why couldn’t it wait until I got back? Ryan and I are sitting here and you and my sister are gone.”

  “We’ll be home in fifteen minutes. Twenty tops. I promise. Bye.” I hung up and grinned. “That wasn’t too bad.”

  “Wait until we get back,” she laughed.

  At the library, we approached the front desk and inquired as to whether Ms. Dillow was working. The girl said she was in the supply room at the back. We headed that way, meeting her halfway. “Janet.” I smiled. “Here is the completed book. I thought you might like to read it before the release party next week.”

  “Really? You’ve finished?” Her eyes narrowed. “Is this a complete book or that silly novella you talked about?”

  “The novella. It should satisfy my readers until I finish the next full length. I hope you enjoy it. See you next Friday.” I turned, grabbed Mary Ann’s arm, and limped back to the car. “Now, we wait.”

  “You should be able to tell by any other emails you receive whether the stalker is Cheryl or Ms. Dillow.”

  “Oh, it’s one of them all right.” All an email would do was let me know whether my plan was working or not.

  We made a quick stop by Mom’s store, purchased a cake to sweeten the moods of the two men waiting at the house, and then hurried home. Matt and Ryan were at the kitchen table, obviously waiting to pounce if I was one minute late.

  Matt glanced at the clock on the microwave. “Very good. Nineteen minutes.”

  I set the cake on the table and went to grab plates. “I’m sorry for leaving, but I needed to get those copies delivered. The whole case could be resting on these two women’s responses. Now, we sit back and wait. If nothing happens before the release party, and the party goes by without a hitch, then I’ve been wrong this whole time and we start over.”

  “Leaving without telling us cannot keep happening.” Matt cut the cake.

  “We did tell you.”

  “After you had already left.” He handed me a piece of rainbow cake with cream cheese frosting. “I don’t mean to be heavy handed, Stormi, but recklessness might guarantee you don’t live long enough to attend your release party.

  “We weren’t reckless. We planned every step of today and were perfectly safe every minute.”

  “Tell that to the person trying to kill you.”

  24

  A week passed with no sign or word from my stalker, Cheryl, or Janet. Matt and Ryan were as confused as I was.

  I secured my hair into a French twist, then stepped back from the mirror. The black slacks and long-sleeved crimson blouse seemed the epitome of a mystery writer. A dash of scarlet lipstick and I was ready to head to my book release party.

  Mom had already left. Greta and she were in charge of the refreshments, and Angela, fearing tonight would be the night my snooping finally did me in, had opted to stay home with her children. I couldn’t blame her. Apprehension sloshed through my veins. Either the novella had satisfied my stalker or tonight was the night; The night it all came to a showdown.

  “We’re going to be late,” Mary Ann called up the stairs. “You should be the first one there to greet your fans.”

  She really took her job as my assistant seriously. It was like having another mother. “I’m coming.”

  “You look great.” Matt greeted me with a kiss on the cheek and opened the front door. “I’ll go out first. The alarm is set. You stay behind me all the way to the car. At the library, I’ll exit first and you follow closely into the building. Ryan is already there, making sure everything is safe.”

  I nodded, slung my purse over my shoulder, comforted by the weight of my gun as my purse swung against my side. While I might usually balk at someone telling me what to do, this time I agreed to follow his orders. After being shot at through the restaurant window, I hadn’t left the house other than delivering the reader copies to my suspects. I was finished tempting fate. Almost. I’d be finished after my stalker was caught. I promised.

  We made the drive to the library in silence and formed our tight formation as we marched inside. Mom immediately handed me a tall blended mocha coffee. “Don’t worry. It hasn’t left my sight.”

  Where were my suspects? The party was due to start in forty-five minutes. Instead of a conference room, Janet had received permission to close the library at five and reopen at seven for the party. She seemed to be expecting a large crowd. I hoped so, for the library’s sake. It pained me to think the beautiful historic brick building might have to close due to budget cuts. Maybe I could make a large donation to the library to prevent that from happening.

  “Stormi Nelson!” Cheryl raced toward me, knocking Mary Ann out of the way.

  Matt stepped in front of me, one hand on the gun in his shoulder holster. “That’s close enough.”

  She glared and waved the copy of A Killer Plot in my face. “What is this?”

  “That’s my newest release. I told you that.” I tried to appear unshaken and sip my drink. Instead, my legs grew weak and my hands trembled.

  “I don’t know what this is, but it can’t be your newest release!” She threw it at me. “First, you ruin my life by butting in and taking my mother away, now you’ve written drivel that I can’t possibly sell.

  “I thought it was actually quite good.”

  She shrugged. “It is, but it is so different from your first book, it’s almost as if someone else wrote it.” She gripped her hair with both hands and pulled so hard I thought she’d rip the auburn strands from her head. “What am I supposed to do with you?” She reached around Matt and pinched me.

  “Ow!” I slapped at her hand.

  She tried to hit me back.

  I slammed my cup on her fingers, not that the plastic cup did much damage other than make her more angry.

  “You need to leave before I slap cuffs on you,” Matt said, taking a step forward.

  “This isn’t the end, Stormi. Not by a long shot.” She stormed away, knocking into Janet, who dropped an armload of books.

  Janet stared after her for a moment, then gl
anced at the copy of my manuscript on the floor. “I guess she didn’t like your book.”

  “Did you?”

  Before she could answer, someone called to her from the back of the room. “Someone needs to pick these up. They go on the fiction cart.” She pointed at the dropped books and hurried away.

  A teenage girl darted forward, scooped up the books, and left as fast as she’d appeared. I felt as if I’d stepped into Alice’s wonderland with the way people flitted around me. I headed to the table which displayed a large poster size picture of my book’s cover.

  Mary Ann had really outdone herself. The cover still didn’t have the whimsical look of my first book, but it suited the novella perfectly. My outfit matched the colors, adding to the theme. All we needed was a plump suspect carrying a too-large knife. My stalker couldn’t help but be annoyed at the way we had portrayed him or her.

  As more people arrived, Matt stayed closer to my side than ever. I felt like recently separated Siamese twins who couldn’t get used to the fact they were no longer joined. “I don’t like this,” he said. “Not one bit.”

  “What could possibly go wrong with you here?” Of course, his presence would deter anyone from making an attempt on my life, which kind of defeated the purpose of antagonizing my stalker. If he couldn’t get close, I couldn’t figure out who he was.

  I sighed and concentrated on watching the crowd for anyone who seemed too interested in me. My ego took quite a hit as few of the arriving patrons bothered to glance my way. Why did they come if they weren’t fans who wanted to meet me? “You’re scaring away my readers.”

  “Too bad.” Matt shrugged. “Your safety is more important than gushing fans.”

  “Not really. Those fans are my bread and butter.” I set my cup on the table and plopped into a nearby chair. If Matt continued to hover, my plans could all be for naught. What I needed was a distraction.

  I pasted on a smile as a woman with two small children approached the table. “Good evening.”