by Emmie Lyn
He shoved the rest of the brownie into his mouth and rubbed his fingers across the top of his shirt, leaving a dark smear behind. I stepped between Sue Ellen who clutched the Venus sculpture tighter to her chest, and Barry who stared greedily past me.
“Don’t give it to him, Sue Ellen. Judith asked you to donate it to the library.”
“What?” Barry’s face distorted with rage as he tried to move around me, but I kept myself between them.
Sue Ellen squeaked and backed up. “I don’t want anyone to get hurt,” she blubbered. “I’m sure Judith wouldn’t want that either.”
“No one will get hurt. Barry’s all bluff. Right, Barry?” I knew I was taunting him, but I needed to buy time until AJ arrived. What was taking him so long?
“This isn’t a bluff. Get out of the way. Judith knew I wasn’t bluffing about getting that sculpture.”
And there was confirmation of what I suspected. Barry’s anger made him careless.
He lunged in an attempt to rush around me, but I stuck my leg out. Barry, in an almost comical slow-motion scene, tripped. His face crashed onto Sue Ellen’s white tiles with a sickening thud and a grunt of pain.
“But he was at the library all afternoon. I saw him there.” Sue Ellen blubbered. “He can’t be the killer.”
I jumped on top of Barry before he had time to shake off having the wind knocked out of him. “Sue Ellen, quick, get me some duct tape. You must have some in this kitchen someplace.” I pinned his arms to the floor with my knees. “Hurry up.” Barry was moaning in pain, but I didn’t think for one second that he wouldn’t try to fight me off.
Exactly what I expected, he bucked and twisted and almost threw me off his back. “No, you don’t!” I screamed at him and pressed harder with my knees and arms.
Cupboards and drawers opened and closed, while Sue Ellen muttered to herself.
“Hurry up! What’s taking you so long?”
Barry lifted his head and arched his back, but I twisted one of his arms behind him, sitting on it until he stopped fighting under me.
“Found it,” Sue Ellen said as if she’d been on a scavenger hunt.
I reached for the tape. Sue Ellen had already ripped off a long piece, and I managed to secure Barry’s wrists together with it. It wasn’t pretty, but it held. Based on his moans, I assumed I’d managed to twist his arms into a painful position. He deserved it.
I sagged over him, keeping all my weight on his back and wiped the sweat from my brow.
“Are you sure Barry’s the killer?” Sue Ellen asked.
“As sure as I’ve ever been. Every last doubt fell away when he smeared chocolate on his shirt—the same evidence the killer left on your rolled up Persian rug, Sue Ellen.”
She sat on a stool at the kitchen island. “But he was at the library,” she insisted again.
“He said he was at the library, but Luke showed me a hidden cubby on the night of your auction. There’s a hallway to an exit that someone could use to leave unobserved. I’m guessing, with all the time Barry spent doing research at the library, he was well aware of every in and out. Right, Barry?” I jabbed my finger between his shoulder blades for emphasis.
He hissed. “All speculation. You can’t prove anything.”
“I think that’s where you’re wrong. You told me you would sneak over here to have tea with Judith in the library. The perfect spot to see anyone coming up the driveway in time for you to scoot back home on that bicycle trail. Right?”
“Wrong.” Barry snarled his answer.
“Judith chatted about her favorite books and all the wonderful little out-of-the way cubbyholes in Sue Ellen’s library. You knew exactly where to hide the Venus sculpture until the heat died down and you could come over and collect it.”
“How could you, Barry?” Sue Ellen asked. Reality finally sinking in. “Judith was such a sweet, generous woman.”
“Sweet?” Barry screeched. “She left me! Walked right out; changed her life insurance; took the Venus sculpture.” His voice lowered to a whisper. “The worst part was when she said I’d never get my hands on the Venus—beautiful Venus. She knew how much I coveted that sculpture.”
Sirens shrieked outside.
“What’s that?” Sue Ellen’s eyes widened with fear.
“I texted AJ when I found the Venus sculpture in the library. I wasn’t sure where it would all lead, but I knew something wasn’t right.”
“You didn’t suspect me, did you Dani?” Horror etched on Sue Ellen’s face when she realized I’d considered her a suspect.
“It did cross my mind,” I said quickly to ease her mind, “but only until Barry arrived with a chocolate-covered brownie. I should have put this together sooner when he told me he sampled some of Lily’s brownies on Friday. The only way Barry could have had any then, was if he had found them here—the ones you brought for Judith, Sue Ellen.”
I focused my attention on my captive. “Tell us how it happened, Barry. Did you wrestle over the sculpture and the pedestal knocked Judith to the floor giving her the fatal head wound?”
Before he could confirm my theory, the kitchen door flew open. A ball of fur streaked through the opening, making a beeline straight to me.
I pushed myself off of Barry, happily letting Detective Crenshaw take over while Pip leaped and twisted until I scooped her into my arms and rested my head on hers. “Don’t worry, I’m fine. But I could have used you in here about ten minutes ago.”
She licked me from chin to forehead letting me know she wished she’d been with me, too.
Rose wrapped her arms around me. I inhaled her familiar scent as she whispered in my ear. “My heart skipped ten beats when I got your text. You could have at least told me you had everything under control.”
“Sorry, but things weren’t quite wrapped up when I sent that message. The duct tape came later.”
Rose chuckled. “Wrapped up with duct tape. What will you think of next?” She hugged me tighter. “It’s a good thing this mess is over.”
I twisted my head so I could see Rose’s face. “Why?”
“Oh, just a surprise I have for you.” She grabbed my hand in hers and squeezed.
Before I had time to wonder about her surprise, Luke, Lily, and Maggie surrounded me, asking questions a mile a minute. Their words ran together like a pile of tangled seaweed. Somewhere in there, I guess they explained what they were doing in Sue Ellen’s kitchen. I did a double-take. Luke?
It didn’t take long for AJ to escort Barry out, and much to Sue Ellen’s objections, he also took the Venus sculpture for evidence.
“Let’s all go to Sea Breeze,” Rose said, knowing exactly what I needed—beauty and tranquility after all the chaos. She led me outside, clutching my hand as if she was afraid if she let me go something terrible would happen.
Pip squirmed to get out of my hold, letting me know, enough is enough. I put her down.
Rose’s Cadillac was parked closest to Sue Ellen’s house, with Luke’s old rattletrap Blueberry Acres truck, Maggie’s Explorer, and Lily’s yellow VW bug all parked behind. As soon as I remembered that I’d driven the Cadillac, I asked Rose, “How did you get here?”
“Well, that would have been a big problem if Luke hadn’t shown up at my office right after you sent your text message. I guess I would have walked but he offered to drive me over.”
Luke grinned. “The ride was noisy and bumpy, but we made it in one piece.”
“Yes, we did, and I texted Lily and Maggie to get their behinds here, too. On the double. I had no idea what kind of trouble you’d gotten yourself into, Danielle Rose Mackenzie. I thought you might need backup.”
By the tone of her voice and the use of my full name, I knew Rose was over her fear and back to her, don’t-mess-with-me-young-lady attitude. I pulled my hand free of hers, flexed my fingers to get some feeling back, and put my arm around her waist. “Only some brownies and a bad guy to take care of,” I told her.
Everyone snorted.
I
happily dropped into a chair on Rose’s patio while everyone else scurried around making sure I was comfortable. I counted off the familiar faces. “Where’s Maggie?” She’d been at Sue Ellen’s house and Rose had invited the whole rescue team back to Sea Breeze.
Lily seemed to choke on something and then offered an answer. “I told her she was welcome to come along, but she gave me some story about having to get back home and start work on a new project.”
“Hmm,” Rose said. “Could that new project be another tactic to get AJ interested the next time she’s in town?”
“Or maybe,” I suggested, “she’s figuring out which of us she can tap to give AJ a kick in the rear end so he’ll open his eyes and see what’s in front of him.”
“As long as she doesn’t ask to be my houseguest again,” Lily said. “I’m happy to oblige.”
That got a laugh from everyone, but it sparked a question from me. “Speaking of AJ, has he figured out Rudy’s twin Robbie’s connection to the theft of Sue Ellen’s coin?”
“I haven’t heard,” Rose said, “but you can be sure he’ll get to the bottom of it, and we’ll press him with questions the next time we see him.”
Then Rose set a tray overflowing with sandwiches and drinks in front of me, her way of spoiling me. “But in the meantime, don’t get used to all this attention, Dani,” she said with a twinkle in her eye.
“Of course not, Rose. But I’m not sure about Pip.”
Pip raised her head from a bowl filled with a mixture of rice, chicken, and gravy. The fact that she was sitting in a chair next to me with her food on the table while she ate, left no one wondering what I had meant.
Lily asked, “Were you scared?”
Was I? My exhaustion was making everything a bit hazy. “Well, the scariest part was when I was trapped in Sue Ellen’s library, and I thought she was the killer. I was prepared to attack her with my keys. I hope she forgives me for that mistake. And by the time Barry came into Sue Ellen’s kitchen, I was more concerned about distracting him and keeping him away from Sue Ellen and the Venus sculpture until AJ arrived. I didn’t have time to think about being scared, but it was probably the longest few minutes of my life.”
Luke squeezed my shoulder and let his hand linger. “You did great, Dani. We’re all proud of you.”
My heart soared.
What could be better than praise from this blue-eyed hunk of a blueberry farmer?
“Dani? Don’t drift off yet. I have something important to tell you,” Rose said.
I really wanted to sink into my pleasant thoughts about Luke, but I slit my eyes open a little, sighed, and looked at Rose. “What is it?”
“You know how Alice said she wants the quilt to hang here at Sea Breeze someday?”
I nodded. Did Rose want the quilt now and was she planning to ask me to steal it for her? I must have been more tired than I realized.
“It got me thinking about passing on treasures, so I’m in the process of transferring Sea Breeze to you.”
My eyes popped open all the way. “It’s going to be mine?”
“That’s right, but it doesn’t mean I’ll be moving out.” The twitch on the edge of her lips made me chuckle.
“Fat chance I’d ever suggest that,” I muttered, smiling so hard my face hurt.
Pip jumped from her chair into my lap and gave me a doggy breath lick. “You like the idea, Pipster?”
Settling back into my chair, sitting in the sun, enjoying my sleepy haze, I wondered if Rose would move out if I got married someday.
“What did you say?” she asked.
I looked at the grinning faces staring at me as heat traveled to my cheeks. Everyone was smiling, including Luke.
“Oops. Did I say that out loud?”
I really needed to keep track of what left my brain and came out of my mouth.
Luke squeezed my shoulder. I took that to mean I could keep hoping.
What’s Next?
I always thought weddings were supposed to be about joining lives… Not ending them.
But when an unexpected guest shows up dead on the beach and the groom seems to be hiding more than just cold feet, I need to take my chef’s hat off and don my deerstalker once again.
Who was this mysterious stranger that came to town claiming to be a long lost relative, and why is she now dead? Who is the groom really, and are his intentions for my friend pure?
Deceit—like revenge—may be a dish best served cold, but I’m not quite sure any of us have the stomach for it. Wedding bells are ringing, but might they also be the death knell? And is the killer really going to be satisfied with just one victim when two could be twice as nice?
Oh, dear. Pip and I certainly have our work cut out for us this time…
Get your copy here!
https://sweetpromisepress.com/Dishing
SNEAK PEEK: Dishing Up Deceit
It could have been worse.
It could always be worse but that didn’t make me feel any better.
“Look on the bright side,” my grandma, Rose, told me when I managed to limp home after tripping during my run on the beach. “You could have broken your leg instead of simply spraining your ankle.”
Pip, my Jack Russell terrier, looked more sympathetic than Rose did.
I sighed and adjusted my sore ankle on the chaise, miffed that a girl couldn’t get some love.
Well, the only thing bright about this situation was resting on the patio of our home, Sea Breeze, overlooking Blueberry Bay, my leg raised with an ice pack on my ankle, and Pip giving me her sad puppy-dog eyes that melted my heart. Who was I kidding? She was probably sad because I had to cut our morning beach time short.
Which made me laugh and also reminded me that feeling sorry for myself would get me nowhere. Fast. So, good-bye pity party!
“I’ll fill in for you at the diner,” Rose said.
Rose used to own her pride and joy, the Little Dog Diner, outright, until she made Lily, my best friend, and me her partners. Now she stayed mostly in the background and let us do the heavy lifting.
I smacked away her suggestion with my hand hitting the pillow. “That’s ridiculous. It’s only a little sprain, I’ll be able to work tomorrow.” I loved working at the diner as much as Rose had when she used to put in her long, grueling hours.
Rose slid her sunglasses lower on her nose and looked at me from under her floppy straw hat. She didn’t have to actually say anything for me to know she thought I was full of baloney.
“Really, Rose, you have the Blueberry Bay Grapevine deadline to think about. That paper doesn’t write itself. I’ll be fine.”
Pip disappeared into the house like a raging tiger, all of her ten-pound fury ready to attack whoever was knocking on the front door. With a pat on my shoulder like I was three years old, Rose followed Pip inside to save the unfortunate person who’d upset our guard dog.
I sighed again, closed my eyes, and decided everything, except my ankle, was normal, if normal meant that I, Dani Mackenzie, at twenty-seven years old, lived in this beautiful home, Sea Breeze, in Misty Harbor, Maine, with my grandma Rose, and my terrier, Pip.
Yes, things could be so much worse and sitting with the sun warming me, I focused on the positives.
“Dani?” Rose, shaking my shoulder, roused me from my haze. “We have company. This is Ivy Mackenzie, the niece of a long-lost second cousin, twice removed on my grandfather’s side. She’s from Scotland.”
I scooched upright as much as possible without disturbing my throbbing ankle. Yeah, my ankle definitely wasn’t normal, but I did my best to ignore it and looked into a face I’d never seen before. Dyed red hair framed pale, freckled skin and faded blue eyes as this stranger stood next to Rose and smiled. The contrast couldn’t have been starker with my ageless, elegant grandma in her mid-calf length skirt swirling with various shades of blue and a white silky top against the definitely aging Ivy sporting a yellow, wrinkled, buttoned-down, blouse tucked into faded, sea green capris bulging at
the seams.
“Hello, Dani.” Ivy held her hand out as my brain sorted through Mackenzie relatives I’d heard about, but my memory bank came up with a big fat goose egg about this person. “You’re blessed with those gorgeous curly, auburn Mackenzie tresses.” She ran her fingers through her own short hair. “At my age, my color comes from a bottle.”
No kidding.
Pip made a wide detour around Ivy before she settled with her head in my lap, eyeing this newcomer warily. Of course, this made me wonder why Pip was suspicious about this woman who’d barged into Sea Breeze with no warning on a beautiful August Monday morning.
I shook her hand. Pip said hello with a low, deep-in-her-throat growl.
Ivy plopped her matronly self onto a patio chair facing Blueberry Bay, apparently unaware or uncaring about Pip’s reaction.
“This is more beautiful than I’d imagined, Rose. You’re sure you don’t mind this last-minute intrusion? I could have sworn I had a reservation at the Blueberry Bay Inn for two weeks, but,” she flicked her wrist, shrugged her shoulders, and giggled, “silly me. I guess something happened. They couldn’t find anything in my name, and now the inn is booked solid.”
Rose pulled out a chair and sat next to Ivy. She adjusted her floppy straw hat so her face was completely shaded. “Don’t worry, Ivy. We have plenty of room here, right, Dani?”
“Huh? You’re staying here?” I said, all but choking on my words.
“And, guess what else?” Rose asked, cutting me off before a snarky comment left my mouth.
I wasn’t sure I could handle any more good news. Sea Breeze worked just fine with Rose, Pip, and me. In the last few months we’d worked out the kinks of living together, thank you very much. But I guess I’d missed the memo that said Rose didn’t need to consult me before inviting a stranger into our midst.
Rose kept her face hidden when she announced, “After I told Ivy about your running accident, Dani, she said she’d be thrilled to help us out in the diner.”
