Killer Christmas Cozies

by Jenna St James

  Blake lifted his glass in greeting when he saw us saunter his way. He gave me a quick wink before he turned to his granddad. “Grandpa, this fiery woman here is Melanie Adkins. Mel to her friends. She served as a nurse during the Vietnam War. I figured you two would have a lot to talk about since you both served. And this lovely lady here is her granddaughter, Amanda. Amanda worked as a temp for Staley & Thomas, but what she really wants to do is open her own bakery. Ladies, this is my grandpa, Colonel Milton Wellington.”

  “My friends call me Milt.”

  Milt Wellington was the spitting image of Blake…just a few decades older. He was tall, broad shouldered, and trim. But instead of flowing dark locks like his grandson’s, Milt’s salt and peppered hair was cut short. He had the same chiseled jawline and intense brown eyes…the only difference was Colonel Wellington had a few wrinkles and laugh lines.

  “Well, Milt,” Nan said matter-of-factly, “what are you buying me to drink?”

  Milt threw back his head and laughed. “What would you like?”

  Nan looked down at his drink. “I’ll have what you’re having.”

  Milt lifted one eyebrow and called to the bartender. “One vodka rocks and one…” Milt turned to me. “What can I get you, Amanda?”

  I blushed and quickly scanned the special’s board. I hated ordering drinks because I never knew what to order. “I’ll take the candy cane martini.”

  Nan snorted but Milt just called out my order to the bartender. We all made small talk for a few minutes until our drinks arrived.

  “Grandpa,” Blake said as he handed me my drink, “ask Mel here about her jewelry. That should keep you two entertained for a while.”

  “Is that so?” Milt asked.

  That was all the prompting Nan needed. As she started to demonstrate what her gadgets could do, I turned to Blake and took a sip of my martini. The combination of vodka and peppermint Schnapps was a good choice.

  “So,” I said as casually as I could, “I have a question about emails.”

  Blake ran a hand through his shoulder-length brown hair. “Like what?”

  I took another sip for courage. “How easy would it be to send a false email?”

  Blake frowned and gave me a strange look. “What does that even mean?”

  I set my drink down on the bar. “I mean, say someone has accused me of sending an email that I didn’t send. How hard would it be to track where the email originated from?”

  Blake shrugged. “Not that hard.”

  I fingered the crushed candy canes around my martini and lifted the hard candy to my mouth. Blake’s eyes followed my finger. I tried not to blush.

  “That ain’t nothin’,” I heard Nan say. “Look at this.”

  I turned and saw Nan had the shoulder of her dress pulled down. “Shrapnel.”

  Milt laughed. “I got one better.” He pulled up his shirt to expose his rock-hard stomach. “Bullet. Nearly bled to death.”

  “Nice,” Nan said.

  Laughing, I turned back to Blake and grinned. I couldn’t help it. I wanted with all my heart for this man not to be involved with the murder. I liked him and his grandpa. It would be heartbreaking to find out otherwise.

  “Looks like those two are hitting it off,” Blake said.

  “Looks that way.”

  “Why did you want to know about the email?” Blake asked.

  I shrugged. “I gave the email I received supposedly from Margaret to Detective Carlson, and so I just wondered.”

  Liar, liar!

  I wanted to tell him about Tanya Clover and her accusation about the email sent that got her fired…but for some reason I was hesitant. I wasn’t one hundred percent sure yet I could trust him.

  Chapter 9

  Sam Clarkson, the day-time security guard, was on duty the next afternoon when I hurried inside the building. After our date with the boys, I asked Nan what she thought about asking Blake for more help. She agreed I should tell him everything.

  “Amanda Adkins,” Sam said. “What are you doing here? I thought your temp job finished Friday?”

  “It did,” I assured him. “But I’m sure you heard about what happened at the Christmas party?”

  Sam clucked his tongue. “I sure did. A terrible thing!”

  I nodded. “It sure was. But in the confusion, I left behind my dishes I brought to the party. I hoped I could go up and get them.”

  Sam hesitated for only a second. “Sure. I don’t see why not.”

  He waved me through, and I hurried toward the elevator, trying not to feel guilty for lying. I hadn’t left anything…I was headed to see Blake.

  I scurried past the elevators and pushed through a metal door a few feet from the elevator. I’d never been in the IT department during my employment. There were four people milling around. I spotted Blake and Cooper over by the far corner.

  “I’m glad I caught you,” I said breathlessly.

  Blake blinked in surprise. “Amanda? What’re you doing here?”

  I glanced hesitantly at Cooper before turning my attention back to Blake. “Can you look into something for me?”

  “What do you need?” Blake asked.

  “Last night when I asked you the question about the email, I didn’t tell you everything. I really need two favors from you today. Could you look to see where Margaret’s email to me originated from, and then I hoped you could hack into Tanya Clover’s work email and see about her emails.”

  Blake’s brow furrowed. “Tanya Clover? Why?”

  “I went by her house yesterday, and something she said bothered me. She claimed someone falsified an email to Mr. Staley. I thought maybe you could see where it originated from. I’m pretty sure if you could prove Tanya was set up, she wouldn’t mind you went into her work email.”

  Blake frowned. “I’d love to help you, Amanda, but I’m really swamped right now. I have two more big-ticket items to take care of before I leave today for Christmas vacation.” Blake glanced at his watch. “And I have less than two hours to finish them. If I did that for you right now, I wouldn’t get my work finished. Could I work on that for you over the holidays?”

  “I can look for you,” Cooper offered. “I only have one more work order I need to do.”

  I breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you, Cooper. That would be a big help.”

  “No problem. I’ll call you in a little while when I have your answers,” Cooper said. “It may be after we close. Is that okay?”

  “That’s great,” I said. “No rush.”

  Blake frowned at me. “Are you sure you should be snooping around?”

  “Yes,” I said.

  Blake gave me a crooked smile. “Good enough.”

  I waved goodbye and hurried back out to the lobby. I was thinking up an excuse to give Sam as to why I didn’t have a dish in my hand when I ran smack dab into Detective Carlson.

  “What’s your hurry?” Detective Carlson asked.

  “No hurry. Just making sure I didn’t leave a dish behind at the party.”

  “Is that so?” Detective Carlson asked. “Well, I’m here to wrap up a couple things. Hopefully I’ll have an arrest by tonight.”

  I swallowed hard. “Good to hear.”

  His eyes narrowed. “I wouldn’t leave town if I were you.”

  Insulted, I pushed by him and hurried out of the building. Okay, maybe I wasn’t so much insulted as I was scared. I needed to find Margaret’s killer, and I needed to find him or her fast.

  I drove like mad back to the condo and hurried inside. Nan was at the stove putting on a pot of tea.

  “Nan, I ran into Detective Carlson at the office this afternoon, and he said he would arrest someone by tonight. Then he told me not to leave town. I’m really worried.”

  Nan turned off the stove and calmly measured out two teaspoons of my favorite loose tea and dumped it in the basket of the teapot. She then poured the boiling water over the loose leaves and snapped the lid shut on the teapot.

  “Go get a pen
and paper,” Nan finally said. “While the tea is steeping, we’ll narrow down our list of suspects.”

  I gathered up the items she asked for and dumped them on the table. The timer went off and Nan poured a steaming cup of Orange Spiced Chai tea into both our cups and carried them over to the table.

  “Make a list of possible suspects,” Nan directed. “Make sure you leave no one out. Next to their name put the motive behind the killing.”

  I did what she said, periodically stopping to blow on my tea. By the time I finished my list, I had a lot of question marks on information I either didn’t have or couldn’t figure out.

  Nan set a plate of coffee cake down on the table in front of me then held out her hand. “Let me see.”

  I gave her the sheet of paper then picked up my tea and sipped. I closed my eyes and savored the sharp blend of the spices. While Nan continued to peruse the paper, I picked up a slice of coffee cake and nibbled.

  Just when I didn’t think I could sit still any longer, Nan set the paper down and took a sip of her tea. “Let’s go through it out loud. You have Marc Mallard’s motive as he wanted the job that Margaret was given. Because he knew ahead of time Margaret had gotten the job and that you were making a special cake for Margaret, he was actually the one who sent you the email regarding specifics for the cake. When the announcement was made, he slipped into the breakroom and dumped the poison on her cake.”

  “Yes. And I pretty much wrote down the same thing for Linda Sellars.”

  “I see that,” Nan said. “Instead of Marc doing the emailing and dumping of poison, it’s Linda.”

  “Yes. Both had knowledge beforehand who would get the job. Both could have seen the sign-up sheet in the lounge that said I was baking Margaret a diet cake, and either one could have sent me the specific email about the type of design I was to bring.”

  “But wouldn’t you have noticed if either of them had sent it and not Margaret? And if you didn’t, I’m sure the police would have seen who the sender was.”

  “Not if the sender knew how to manipulate the email. At least, I think that’s how it works. I’m not really sure.”

  “You have your name on here next to Tanya Clover,” Nan said. “Why?”

  “Detective Carlson thinks I’m in cahoots with Tanya Clover. I know she threatened to get Margaret back because Tanya thought Margaret was responsible for Tanya getting fired and the vice-president job coming open. Someone at the Christmas party fed Detective Carlson that rumor. Someone wanted to throw suspicion on Tanya and on me.”

  Nan let out a whistle. “Then you have down Blake Wellington and Cooper Stiles.”

  I nodded. “One of them has to be involved. I can’t imagine Linda or Marc possessing the kind of IT knowledge needed to pull this sort of crime off alone. I think one of them sent the false email to Mr. Staley about Tanya cavorting with another agency and for ultimately getting Tanya fired. It has to be an IT person. They are the only ones I can think of who could be that knowledgeable to tamper and not get caught.”

  “But Blake?” Nan asked. “I don’t know.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Only because you think he and his grandpa are both hot.”

  Nan chuckled. “There’s that.”

  We both sobered at the thought that Blake might somehow be involved with the death of Margaret. But what I couldn’t figure out was what Blake or Cooper gained in helping to kill Margaret?

  I knew I was missing an important piece of the puzzle, I just couldn’t pinpoint exactly what it was.

  The doorbell rang, and I jerked in surprise. “Are we expecting anyone?”

  “Not that I know of,” Nan said.

  Please, please, please don’t let it be Detective Carlson coming for me!

  I opened the door and was surprised to find Cooper Stiles on the doorstep.

  “Cooper,” I said as I motioned him inside. “What’s going on? Why’re you here?”

  Cooper shook his head and slid his thick glasses farther up his nose. “I did some digging on the questions you had about the emails. I’m afraid what I found isn’t good. Can I come in?”

  I felt my stomach drop. It was Blake! He was somehow involved with Margaret’s murder.

  I led Cooper to the couch and we both sat down. Nan leaned against the doorframe between the kitchen and the living room. I gave her a pointed look when she zipped her pendant back and forth on her chain.

  “What do you mean it isn’t good?” I asked.

  “I think Blake may have sent the emails you were asking about. Emails both to Mr. Staley about Tanya and then again to you about the cake,” Cooper said. “It’s the only thing that makes sense. I’ve gone over this a dozen times, but I keep coming up with the same results.”

  I covered my mouth with my hand. Compelling myself to take a deep breath, I nodded my head and lowered my hand. “I remember the night we met at the party, Blake told me he set up my email account because you were gone that day.”

  Cooper clucked his tongue. “You poor girl.”

  “But why?” I asked. “It makes no sense.”

  Cooper shrugged. “Perhaps Blake and Marc had an agreement? Blake would make it so Tanya lost her job and Marc could slide into the position.”

  “What does Blake gain from that?” Nan demanded. “And more importantly, why would they risk killing Margaret just for a job?”

  “It’s more than just a job.” Cooper yanked his glasses off his face and wiped them off with the end of his shirt. “It’s nearly double the salary.”

  “Okay,” Nan said. “Let’s go with money as the motive. You’re saying that once Tanya was out of the way and Marc still didn’t get the job, the two men decided to take out Margaret?”

  Cooper nodded and patted my hand. “Yes. I’m afraid they used you, Amanda. Blake sent you that email instructing you how to design the cake so you’d take the fall.”

  “But Nan was with Blake the whole time,” I argued. “Blake couldn’t have put the poison on Margaret’s cake.”

  “But Marc could have,” Cooper said.

  He was right. I knew he was right. I saw Marc both in the workroom and in the main office area. He moved around unencumbered the whole night.

  I bit back a frustrated cry when the doorbell rang again…and so did my cell phone.

  “For pity sake!” I cried. “What’s going on here?”

  “I’ll get the door,” Nan said. “You answer your phone.”

  I left Cooper on the couch and swiped my finger over the phone. “Hello?”

  I was vaguely aware that Blake Wellington had just entered the living room. I was about to ask just what the heck Nan was thinking inviting him inside the condo when the voice on the other end answered.

  “Amanda?”

  “Yes,” I said, my eyes never leaving Blake’s.

  “This is Tanya Clover. I think I know who Margaret’s killer is. Or at least one of the people involved.”

  Suddenly Cooper, Blake, and Nan started yelling at once, each louder than the other. I turned around, stuck my finger in my other ear, and pressed the phone closer.

  “Who?” I demanded. “Who is it?”

  I couldn’t hear Tanya’s response over the unmistakable click of a safety being released next to my ear.

  “Hang up the phone,” the voice said.

  Chapter 10

  I hung up in the midst of Tanya asking if I’d heard her. I’d finally heard her all right, but it didn’t matter now.

  I was staring at the killer.

  “Toss the cell phone onto the floor,” Cooper Stiles demanded.

  I tossed the phone down then looked frantically at Nan and Blake. Both were silent as they watched Cooper. He waved the gun and motioned for me to stand by the other two. Slowly I inched my way toward Nan…wrapping my arms around her when I finally reached her.

  “Rope?” Cooper demanded. “Where is it?”

  “We don’t have any rope here,” Nan said.

  Cooper’s eyes narrowed on us and then his f
ace split into a sinister grin. “Guess I’ll just have to use this handy little Christmas gift I got from Blake yesterday.”

  Cooper held up his wrist. He had on one of those bracelets that has yards and yards of rope in them in case you get caught out in the wild. It wasn’t something I’d ever worn and couldn’t remember the name of it.

  “I want you three to sit on the couch, hands on your knees. Blake you’re in the middle.” Cooper looked pointedly at Blake. “Don’t even try anything, or I’ll shoot your girlfriend right between the eyes.”

  I’m not his girlfriend.

  I’m not sure why that was my first thought, but it was. My second thought was Cooper shouldn’t be worried just about Blake trying something…Nan was sure to go all spider monkey on him the moment she had a chance.

  I surreptitiously scanned Nan’s body to see what weapons she had on her as we all three shuffled over to the couch. Blake sat in the middle while Nan and I sat down on either side of him.

  With the gun still held on us, Cooper reached in and yanked his cell phone from his pocket. He quickly hit a button then waited a beat.

  “I got them,” Cooper said. “Come on inside and let’s get this over with.”

  Was he talking to Marc or Linda?

  Cooper slid the phone back into his pocket. “Amanda, go in the kitchen and bring me a knife or scissors. And for your grandma’s sake, trust me, you don’t want to do something you’ll regret.”

  I sprang up from the couch and stomped into the kitchen to grab the kitchen scissors from the knife rack. What Cooper didn’t understand was that I had no intention of trying something funny…I couldn’t make the same promise for Blake or Nan.

  I hurried back into the living room and shoved the scissors at him.

  “Now go sit back down next to Blake,” Cooper ordered.

  I marched over to the couch and plopped down. I could feel myself seething at the injustice of it all. I had to suppress a laugh when Cooper realized there would be no way he could hold a gun on us and cut the bracelet from his wrist.

  I was about to make a snide remark when the knob on the front door twisted. I wondered who would walk through the door next…Marc or Linda. It had to be one of them.