A Freshly Baked Cozy Mystery Box Set

by Kate Bell

  I looked around the room. Thad was in the middle of a group of college-aged kids, laughing. Thad had gone to high school with most of them.

  I glanced back at Mr. Spellman. “Enjoy your coffee, Mr. Spellman,” I said. “I’ll see you out on the course, Todd.”

  “Indeed you will!” he said brightly.

  I headed back over to Alec and Lucy.

  “I’ve got all the pies in,” Alec announced as I approached them.

  “That’s awesome, thanks,” I said and glanced back at Mr. Spellman.

  More people were streaming through the doors. Some brought more pies, and some brought carafes of flavored coffees. The room felt and smelled warm and cozy from the coffee and the fire. It was fall in Maine and we were going to have a race!

  Chapter Two

  “On your mark, get set, go!” came the command from the loudspeaker.

  And we were off. Alec started us off at a nice easy pace, but when I saw Todd, Thad, and the group of college kids take off at lightning speed, I was chomping at the bit. Something about seeing people running out in front of me, made me competitive.

  “What are you doing?” Alec asked, increasing his pace to keep up with me.

  “Come on, Alec, it’s a race! Let’s run!” I said and pushed myself to go faster.

  “You need to pace yourself,” he said, still keeping up with me.

  “It’s only a 5K. What’s to pace?” I said. Actually, with the cold air, I was beginning to feel that pace in my lungs, but I wasn’t going to let on. “I can do a 5K in my sleep.”

  “Okay, but don’t cry to me when you run out of steam before it’s over,” he warned.

  “Ha ha,” I said. “I’m pretty sure I’ll be okay.”

  “Of course you will be,” he said.

  I noted the sarcasm, but the cold was making it hard to talk, so I didn’t reply.

  The trail wound out through the woods and would circle around and come back to the Rec Center. The trees had lost most of their leaves, but some still had a few. The trail had been blown clear of leaves, twigs, and assorted debris and was nice and smooth.

  Soon enough I was going to have to switch to treadmill running. The snow could be brutal in Maine in the wintertime and only the foolhardy would run in it when the weather got nasty.

  Much of the powder snow had melted, and I slipped a little on the trail, but caught myself in time, using my arms to balance myself.

  “Careful,” Alec warned, reaching out for my arm.

  “Got it,” I answered. A little melting snow wasn’t going to hold me back.

  It was biting cold, but it was exhilarating and a nice change from the regular running path. The pine trees were beautiful with a little of the powder snow still on their branches.

  Thad and the rest of the college kids were out of sight within a minute or two and Todd was a couple hundred yards ahead, giving it his all to try to catch up with them. Poor Todd wasn’t going to get anywhere near them. Those kids looked like they were serious athletes. Thad had been a track star in high school and he was on his college track team.

  “How are you doing?” Alec huffed after a couple more minutes.

  “Okay, you?” I asked.

  He shrugged. “Okay.”

  We were running hard, and the cold wasn’t making it easy. My eyes began to tear up in the cold and I pulled my scarf further up on my face. I should have worn goggles, but I completely forgot about them.

  We went around a curve and I heard a low whistling sound, and then I saw Todd fall to the ground, face first. He lay still. Alec and I glanced at each other and then pushed ourselves to get to him. Had he had a heart attack? He appeared to be in good physical shape, but looks could be deceiving.

  When Alec and I got to him, we knelt at the same time, one on each side. Alec turned him over and felt for a pulse in his neck. He kept moving his fingers around looking for the right spot.

  “Alec,” I gasped.

  He looked at me, questioning.

  I was out of breath and couldn’t speak, so I pointed to a dark wet spot on his red running jacket.

  “Oh,” Alec said and unzipped it. His shirt was white underneath his jacket, but it was turning bright crimson at an alarming pace. “I can’t find a pulse,” Alec said.

  I swallowed, my heart pounding hard, but now it was from adrenaline.

  “What happened?” I gasped.

  Alec shook his head and kept feeling for a pulse.

  I heard that same whistling noise I had heard before Todd fell, and the snow next to me puffed up into the air. Then it happened again and again. Each time, small puffs of snow and dirt flew up.

  “Run!” Alec said, getting to his feet and grabbing my hand.

  “What is it?” I screamed as I got to my feet and we ran back in the direction we had come from.

  “Someone’s shooting at us,” he said. “Do you have a phone on you?”

  “No, it’s in the car,” I gasped.

  “Run!” he repeated, pulling on my hand.

  “Shooting?” I questioned. It seemed inconceivable.

  He nodded. “Hurry.”

  I put on some speed and we headed back toward a small crowd of runners. I was too afraid to look behind me. I didn’t want to see someone running after us with a gun.

  “Wait, Thad is in the other direction! We have to get to him!” I cried, coming to a sudden stop.

  Alec grabbed my arm. “We have to get back to the Rec Center. We can’t catch them,” he said. “They’ll get back to the Rec Center before we do.”

  I shook my head, and pulled back against him. “No! That’s my baby!”

  “My gun is in my car. We are not running into the sights of a gunman. Thad and the other kids already passed the spot where Todd fell. They’ll be back at the Rec Center within a few minutes,” he said breathing hard, and pulled me toward the group of runners coming toward us.

  What he said made sense, but all I could think of was my kids. I wanted to see my kids. I wanted to see Thad right now.

  “Go back!” Alec ordered the approaching runners. “Turn around!” he signaled to the runners with his hand, but they looked at him, confused, and kept running toward us. They didn’t understand why he was telling them to go back.

  “Turn around!” Alec gasped.

  “What?” someone asked.

  “What do you mean, turn around?” someone else asked.

  “Someone’s shooting at us!” I screamed.

  That stopped them in their tracks.

  “Get to shelter at the Rec Center!” Alec commanded.

  With terrified looks on their faces, they turned to run back to the Rec Center building.

  “What happened?” someone asked. “Who’s shooting?”

  “Run!” Alec ordered.

  As we ran into more groups of runners and walkers, we ordered them back to the building. We had been ahead of almost everyone, except for Todd and the small group of five or six college age runners, so we were able to get the rest headed back to the building before they got close to where Todd was hit.

  “What about Thad and the other kids?” I gasped. It was hard for me to keep my wits about me. Would they make it back to the Rec Center unharmed?

  “They’ll be okay, Allie. They were in the shooter’s sights and they weren’t shot. They were moving at a fast pace. They’ll be back at the Rec Center shortly.”

  I wanted to believe him, but I couldn’t. Not until I actually saw Thad unharmed.

  When we got to the door of the Rec Center, I looked over my shoulder, but there was no one there. The shooter hadn’t followed us, unless they were staying under cover of the trees.

  “I have a gun in my car,” he reminded me. “You get inside with everyone else.” He gave me a push to get me inside and he slammed the door.

  I stood by a window and watched him unlock the back of his SUV. He took out his gun holster and slung it on himself and grabbed his phone. Then he headed back to the front door.

  “E
veryone on the floor!” he ordered, when he saw people standing around. “Stay away from the windows and stay down on the floor.” He made a call for backup, then stood near the window, watching.

  Lucy hurried over and stood beside me.

  “What’s going on?” she asked, wide-eyed. “Why are we getting on the floor?”

  “Get over here,” I said, pulling her with me. We both dropped to the floor. “Todd Spellman was shot,” I whispered. “And Thad is still out there!” My vision blurred and tears streamed down my cheeks. I needed my son back, safe and sound.

  “What? Who shot him?” she whispered.

  “I don’t know. We didn’t see anyone. I think they had a silencer on the gun,” I whispered. I looked around to see if anyone was listening to our conversation.

  “Oh my gosh! That’s terrible!” she said. “What about Thad? Where is he?”

  “He and the other college kids were out ahead of everyone. They had already passed the spot where Todd was shot. Alec swears they’ll be safe and be back here soon, but I just want my boy here now. What if something happens to him?” I asked. My voice cracked on the last part, and I wiped at my eyes with my hand.

  “It’s okay,” she said, grabbing my other hand and squeezing it. “He’s a smart boy, and he’s fast.”

  “What? What did you say?” Leann Riddle asked, inching toward us on the floor. Her long black hair had come out of its ponytail and fell across her face.

  “Who got shot?” Leann asked, panic in her voice.

  “Hush!” Lucy said to her. “You’re going to panic people.”

  I hoped backup came quickly. Was there more than one shooter? My mind spun with thoughts of impending doom, and I tried to push them away.

  “Are we going to be killed?” Luann Dobbs whimpered from her place near one of the windows.

  My heart pounded. It was the question I was too afraid to ask.

  “No, we are not going to be killed,” Alec said, sounding confident. “Everyone needs to stay calm and stay on the floor. You’re going to be fine.” I hadn’t heard his authoritative police voice before and it was comforting. It made me want to believe him.

  I looked around for Mr. Spellman. I hoped he didn’t understand what was happening. I didn’t want him to overhear anyone talking about his son. He was sitting in his wheelchair where I had last seen him. He was in a corner, away from the windows and I thought he would be safe there.

  “I want everyone to stay put. No one goes outside and stay away from the windows!” Alec ordered and went to the door. He opened it and looked around. I could feel a whoosh of cold air from where I lay on the floor.

  “Alec, don’t go back out there!” I said. My heart jumped in my chest. I didn’t want him out there with some murdering lunatic. “Wait for backup!”

  He put a finger to his lips and left.

  Chapter Three

  “Oh, no,” I said, and fought back the tears that threatened to fall. I couldn’t bear it if either Thad or Alec got hurt. I could hear soft crying from somewhere across the room, but I didn’t look to see who it was. Everyone was scared, including me. I said a silent prayer for Thad and Alec’s safety and hoped this nightmare would end soon.

  Lucy put her hand on mine again. “It will be okay. Alec and Thad will be back soon.”

  I looked at her and nodded. She was right. Alec had been a police officer for years and had survived this long. He would be fine, I told myself. And Thad was fast. He would probably win the race without even knowing there was danger behind him.

  “Did you see who was shot, Allie?” Ellen Allen inched over beside me and asked.

  “I don’t want to say,” I said. I didn’t want Mr. Spellman to hear about it this way. It looked like Todd was dead. If he wasn’t, he soon would be if they didn’t get an ambulance to him right away.

  I could hear sirens in the distance and I breathed a sigh of relief.

  The door swung open, and we all jumped. I looked up and Thad was the first one through the door, with the other college students behind him. I jumped up, forgetting about needing to stay on the floor, and threw my arms around his neck.

  “I’m so glad you’re okay,” I sobbed. “I was so scared.”

  “It’s okay, Mom. I’m okay,” he said, breathing hard. “Alec said to get on the floor.”

  We both got down on the floor, and I held his hand. My boy was safe.

  The other college kids looked terrified and dropped to the floor near us. I was thankful they were all safe.

  ***

  We lay on the floor for what seemed like hours before Alec came back inside. In reality, it was probably less than half an hour, but I had lost track of time. I just wanted this nightmare to be over.

  “You’re all free to get up off the floor now, but we want everyone to stay put for the time being,” he announced. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and made a phone call, standing in the corner, away from everyone else.

  “Why don’t we have some pie?” I announced, getting to my feet. It would provide a distraction and take our minds off of what had happened, at least for a few minutes.

  “That’s a good idea,” Lucy said, jumping up and getting the Thanksgiving themed paper plates and napkins together.

  “Who wants pie?” I asked brightly, cutting into a pumpkin pie. I probably sounded like I was crazy, but I was trying for happy. The stress was getting to me.

  People slowly got to their feet and began asking who was shot when the ambulance drove past the window.

  “Why won’t you tell us who got shot?” Ellen asked. She had a surly attitude after spending time on the hard floor, but then, she almost always had a surly attitude.

  “Because it’s police business. Would you want everyone standing around talking about it if it had been your mom that had gotten shot?” I asked. Some people could be so dense.

  Ellen snorted. “My mom wouldn’t be caught dead out there running in the snow.”

  I was going to point out the murder could have occurred anywhere and thus her statement had no bearing, but decided it wasn’t going to make any difference, anyway. I cut a piece of pumpkin pie and slapped it onto a plate and handed it to her.

  “I want apple pie!” she protested, staring at the slice of pumpkin pie like it would poison her.

  I gave her a hard look and cut her a piece of apple pie. Anything to get rid of her. That woman irritated me, even on a good day.

  When Ellen took her piece of pie, I pasted a smile on my face. Here we all were, having pie and coffee and pretending a man had not just been murdered outside of this building. It was just like any other day, right? It wasn’t like it was a major holiday and someone wasn’t going to be told their loved one was gone and wouldn’t be home for dinner. I blew air out of my mouth and bit my lower lip to keep from crying.

  I began cutting pieces of pie and handing them to Lucy and Thad to hand out. I didn’t care who got what flavor, just as long as everyone had a piece to keep them occupied for a few minutes.

  “May I have mincemeat?” Mr. Winters asked, standing in front of my table.

  I looked at him and cocked an eyebrow. “Don’t tell me you have information about the shooting already?” Mr. Winters was the town gossip and knew far more about what was going on in this town than anyone would think an elderly man would know. This was a fact that I had become aware of over the last couple of months and his knowledge came in handy from time to time.

  He gave me a big grin and flashed his partial gold canine tooth. “Nope. Not yet. But you can bet I soon will.”

  “It wouldn’t surprise me a bit,” I said, handing him a piece of mincemeat pie. I made a mental note to talk to Mr. Winters in a few days if the police hadn’t come up with a suspect. It’s called networking.

  I couldn’t imagine why someone would shoot Todd Spellman. He was the most personable individual I had ever met. He had a happy, upbeat demeanor and always took the time to talk to people. I mean, really talk to them. He looked you in the eye and
gave you his full attention. I couldn’t see how he could make any enemies.

  But even scarier was the fact that they took shots at Alec and I. As far as I knew, I didn’t have any enemies. Was this some crazed killer that would shoot at anyone? I had to wonder if Todd knew whether he had any enemies before he took a bullet to the chest. Did most people who were murdered know they had enemies before they died? Maybe this was just some rogue murderer that did it for sport. I was going to have to run that idea by Alec and see what he thought.

  “Cherry, please,” Eileen Smith said, stepping up for some pie.

  “Coming right up,” I said. “By the way, how badly is this delay going to hurt the community meal?”

  We had raised money at the Halloween bazaar for the community Thanksgiving meal as well as money to buy coats for underprivileged kids. The meal was being held at Henry’s Home Cooking Restaurant and Eileen Smith worked there.

  “I hope not too much,” she answered. “We made a lot of dishes in advance and the turkeys were put in the oven to roast early this morning. The pies you brought are such a big help. If I can get out of here soon, we shouldn’t have much of a delay.”

  “That’s good to hear,” I said. “I know there are people that depend on that meal every year.”

  “I know, so many people have mentioned they’re going there,” Lucy added. “I’m glad it’s there for them.”

  I glanced over at Mr. Spellman, sitting by himself in the corner. I hoped he had family in town for the holiday that could take care of him. I handed Lucy the pie server and got a bottle of water and went over to Mr. Spellman.

  “Are you thirsty, Mr. Spellman?” I asked. He didn’t look at me, but when I put his hands around the bottle of water, he gripped it and held onto it.

  He had been here for a couple of hours and I wondered if he was hungry. I went and cut him a piece of my pecan pie and brought it to him. He looked at it and appeared interested, but his hands shook so much I didn’t think he could handle the fork. I didn’t know whether he had issues feeding himself, but I decided to do it, just in case he was no longer capable of feeding himself.