by Lyndsey Cole
“It didn’t seem important at the time.”
Tyler sighed and sat back. “You wouldn’t be hoping that I give Leona special consideration, I hope.”
“I haven’t even said anything about Leona. What I heard is about Charlene.”
Tyler opened a notebook and picked up a pen. “Go ahead.”
“Charlene and Nelson were arguing last night about a piece of land they own. She accused Nelson of making a deal behind her back with Cookie Snow.”
“You’re telling me that Charlene killed her husband over a land disagreement?”
She had to admit that it sounded silly when he put it that way. “I’m only saying that Charlene was furious with Nelson and actually made a couple of threats.”
Tyler leaned forward. “Threats?” Annie could tell that she had him interested now.
“She told him that he could freeze for all she cared and that it would be the last time he’d embarrass her and that was a promise.” Annie held her breath, waiting for Tyler’s reaction.
He looked down and jotted notes in his notebook. “I’ll let Christy know.” He looked at Annie, his face showing no emotion. “Anything else?”
“How long before Leona can get back into the café? Every day it’s closed, she loses a lot of business.”
“That is unfortunate but she’ll be the first to know when we’re done collecting evidence.”
She scratched her forehead. “Come on, Tyler. You know Leona. She didn’t kill Nelson Abbott, and she didn’t poison her own cookies.” Annie hated how whiny her voice sounded.
“Once we’re done testing all the samples from the Black Cat Café, we’ll know more. Listen, Annie, Leona made the cookies Nelson ate. He died right outside her café. We have to be thorough in our investigation, regardless of what I know about Leona. And how about the bad business decisions she made recently to put her in such a financial hole?”
“What?” Annie couldn’t believe her ears. “Even if that’s true, how would that turn her into a murderer?”
“Believe me, it’s true. Haven’t you noticed how desperately she’s been going after Mrs. Delaney’s business for the Christmas Eve gala? She needs exposure. Good exposure from the type of people that attend that party.”
Annie leapt to her feet. “I can’t believe what you are insinuating, Tyler Johnson. Is this some type of revenge? Get to me through Leona?”
Tyler stood up so fast his chair crashed backwards against a filing cabinet with a loud bang. He pointed to the door. “I’ll pretend I never heard those words come out of your mouth, but it’s time for you to go before you say something worse that I won’t be able to ignore. Good bye, Annie.”
Annie clenched her jaw. She was beyond furious and more determined than ever to get Leona out of the mess she’d fallen into. She agreed with Tyler on one thing, though, it was time for her to leave before she said something she couldn’t take back. If nothing else, she would work day and night to prove Police Chief Tyler Johnson and Detective Christy Crank were wrong and pigheaded about how they were conducting their investigation.
Camilla was still draped over the desk of the officer on duty when Annie stomped into the main room. Camilla touched the officer’s arm. “Enjoy those cookies, Officer Reynolds. I won’t waste anymore of your time.”
“But—”
Camilla put her index finger to her lips and winked at the tongue-tied officer. “No buts. I’ll stop by again.”
Annie rolled her eyes at no one and shook her head. Camilla was something else and she was glad that she was on her team with all that charm and charisma. Watching her in action made her forget some of the fury caused by Tyler’s words.
Camilla followed Annie out the door. “That was well worth a bag of cookies,” she told Annie.
“Follow me to my house and we can compare notes. We’ve got some hard work to do to keep Leona out of trouble.”
Chapter 11
“Ahhh,” Annie sighed as she sank onto the couch in front of the blazing fire.
Jason was good to his word and a lovely lunch was already waiting on the dining room table by the time Annie and Camilla arrived. A late lunch, but nonetheless, it looked and smelled delicious.
“What did you learn from the handsome Officer Reynolds?” Annie asked Camilla.
“Well, he asked me if I would go out on a date with him. That’s a good start, right? He almost started to talk about something but caught himself. I have to get him away from the police station to find out what he knows.” Camilla helped herself to half of a veggie panini. “This looks awesome.” Camilla held the other half of the warm sandwich out to Annie.
“Not yet. I’m too angry to eat. Tyler as much as said Leona is their focus.” She sat up straighter on the couch and turned her head toward Jason. “Did Leona make some bad financial investments recently?”
Jason kept his attention on arranging more paninis on the platter, bringing hot coffee to the table, and adding extra plates and silverware.
“Is she in financial trouble?” Annie persisted when she got no answer to her first question.
“She could be. I don’t know the details.” Jason finally looked at Annie. “The best I’ve been able to gather from my visit with her this morning is that she’s hoping the exposure at Mrs. Delaney’s Christmas Eve gala will boost a demand for special catering jobs and she’ll be able to use that to offset her, uh, downturn.”
Annie walked to the table. She chose a smoked ham and melted cheese panini and added a handful of sweet potato tortilla chips to her plate. “How bad is this, uh, downturn?” She put finger quotes around the word, letting Jason know exactly what she thought of his evasive answer.
“Bad enough for her to be stressed, but not bad enough that she asked me for any financial help.” Jason added a container of broccoli carrot salad to the rest of the food on the table.
Camilla had a heaping plate of food and made herself comfortable at the end of the table closest to the fireplace. “Thanks for feeding me. I’m ravenous since I rushed out of my house as soon as I woke up this morning and didn’t grab a bite to eat.”
“Here are some of Leona’s latest cookies if you want something sweet when you get done with that pile of food.” Annie plopped a plate of the dying Santas on the table.
“Oh, yeah. I definitely want some of those.” Her hand paused mid-air as she reached for a cookie. “What the heck are these?” She picked one up and examined it. “Is this Santa on his death bed?”
“Yup. I guess that was Leona’s creative spirit manifesting itself this morning in our kitchen. I convinced her to leave them here instead of treating everyone at the police station to her work of art.”
“Seriously?” Camilla’s eyebrows disappeared under her bangs. “She was going to bring them to the police station? She must be losing her mind.”
Annie held up her hand. “Don’t worry. I talked her off that cliff but we all need to do some serious thinking to keep her focused and out of trouble.” Trouble being the key word in Annie’s mind after being a spectator in the room with Mrs. Delaney, Cookie Snow, and Leona about the Christmas Eve gala. “She managed to secure Mrs. Delaney’s order for a selection of her cookies with one condition.”
Camilla waited silently.
“She can’t get into any trouble or she loses the order. Same goes for Cookie Snow. Mrs. Delaney told them they have to work together—Cookie’s cupcakes and Leona’s Christmas cookies.”
“Wow, that sounds like a tall order with this murder investigation hanging over Leona’s head,” Camilla said as she moved to the sofa. “She can’t work in the Black Cat Cafe kitchen, until—”
“Right,” Annie interrupted. “And never mind that it seems like the two of them can’t stand each other.” She directed her question at Jason. “Do you think Cookie’s bakery is putting pressure on Leona’s business? Is that part of the downturn?”
“I’m sure that’s part of the problem. I always see a lot of people going in and out of Cookie’
s bakery. She has a great location and she does a lot of advertising. Leona depends almost exclusively on tourists stopping in for coffee and a muffin or lunch and some pastries to take out. If she doesn’t get the catering side ramped up, she’s in for a long bleak stretch.” Jason added another log to the fire. “And something else I’ve been wondering about—maybe Catfish Cove isn’t big enough to support both the Black Cat Café and Cookies ‘n Dreams.”
“Which means both Leona and Cookie will try to undermine each other. Ugh.” Annie sank further into the couch cushions. Leona put her heart and soul into the Black Cat Café and, somehow, she had to help her aunt make it work. Even if Leona borrowed money from friends or relatives, she would still need to pay it back which would depend on an increase in business. Getting exposure at Mrs. Delaney’s Christmas Eve gala was a smart strategy. If she could control her behavior so she actually got that exposure.
“She needs to stay in our apartment over the garage instead of at her house. It’s empty now and would be easy for her to stay for a day or two.” Annie waved her panini around as she spoke.
“Why?” Jason asked.
“Here’s the thing: someone needs to keep an eye on her to keep her out of trouble. Danny works and can’t be with her all the time.”
“Do you know what she’ll say to that?” Camilla rolled her eyes and shook her head. “She will not want a babysitter.”
“Of course not. But she does need a kitchen so she can continue with her baking.” Annie felt her grin stretch the skin on her cheeks. “It’s the perfect excuse to get her over here. Her kitchen is tiny and she can spread out in the apartment over our garage to her heart’s content making jolly Santas, gorgeous Christmas trees, intricate snowflakes, and prancing reindeer.”
Camilla wiped her mouth. “Thanks for the grub.” She shoved a cookie in her mouth. “I’m sugared up and ready to get Leona over here.”
“Are you sure about this plan?” Jason asked, his face the picture of skepticism. “She’ll see right through what you’re trying to do.”
Camilla put her hands on her hips and shook her shoulders. “Please. Do not underestimate my persuasive powers, Mr. Hunter. By the time I’m done with Leona, she’ll be convinced this was completely her plan. Oh, and get the heat turned up and make sure the apartment is neat and tidy so she can feel right at home as soon as her big toe crosses the threshold.”
Annie hugged Camilla and told her, “This is step one—get Leona situated right under our noses. Step two will be to keep her busy baking, and step three has to be finding Nelson Abbott’s murderer.”
“Sounds simple when you put it that way,” Camilla said as she pulled on her stylish coat and left Cobblestone Cottage with a burst of energy into a gust of cold air.
Jason poured himself a second cup of coffee and topped off Annie’s mug. He sat in his comfy recliner across from Annie on the couch, nestled between Roxy and Smokey. “I like part of your plan.”
“The part about finding Nelson’s murderer?” she asked hopefully.
“No. That’s the part that worries me. How exactly do you plan to do that without putting yourself in danger?” Jason sat forward and stared at Annie.
“Information is the key. Digging into Cookie Snow’s background for starters. She has it in for Leona, but the only problem is that Leona has it in for Cookie, too. So far, there’s nothing that gives Cookie a strong motive but I’ll dig until I uncover something.”
“Who else?”
“Charlene has to be on the list. It was abundantly clear that there wasn’t much love lost between Charlene and Nelson last night. If we can find some damaging tidbit to give her an iron-clad motive, it might get Leona off the hook.”
“But aren’t Charlene and Leona friends? She wouldn’t sabotage Leona’s whole life by letting her take the fall for her husband’s murder.”
Annie nodded. “They sure are friends, so it will make it awkward for Leona, but if she wants to save her own neck, she’d better be prepared for whatever turns up.”
“I might have something that will help.”
“Spit it out.” Annie couldn’t believe Jason was holding something back. He cared for Leona nearly as much as Annie did.
“When I returned from Leona’s and before you came back for lunch, Paul stopped by. He felt badly that we were interrupted by Charlene’s visit and he brought some homemade blueberry jam for you.”
“I don’t think blueberry jam will help figure out who the murderer is, Jason.” Annie’s mind was already half tuning his story out while she plotted how to get information about Cookie and Charlene. She had to visit Cookie’s shop but Charlene presented a trickier problem. There was no way to just drop in on Charlene without looking or sounding suspicious. She sighed. Then Jason’s words cut through her daydreaming.
“…planning a divorce.”
She skootched forward on the cushion. “Who’s getting a divorce?”
“You weren’t listening, were you? You know, Annie, it’s a bad habit you have of spacing out when you think my story isn’t going anywhere.”
“You’ve got my attention now. Undivided.”
Jason sipped his coffee.
Annie fidgeted.
He nibbled on one of Leona’s dying Santa cookies.
She shifted on the couch cushion, frustrated and impatient, but she knew if she said anything, Jason would only drag out his story even more.
He crossed his legs and tilted his head. His face held a self-satisfied grin.
“Come on. Tell me. This is like torture.”
“Are you giving me your undivided attention?”
“Yes!”
“Good.” Jason set his coffee on the table. “While Paul was apologizing for Charlene’s intrusion on our breakfast with him, he let it slip that she was about to serve Nelson with divorce papers.”
Annie’s eyes bugged out. “So she killed him instead?”
“I won’t go as far as to say that, but there might be some benefit for her to have him dead instead of divorcing him.”
“Maybe they had a pre-nup and she would be cut out of something if she divorced him.”
“Maybe. I’m going to look into who owns that land next to Paul. I thought he said Charlene and Nelson both owned it, but maybe it was only Nelson and in the course of looking into stuff for the divorce, she decided she’d be losing out on too much.”
Annie flopped back against the couch. “Holy shmoly. That’s some good info Mr. Hunter. So she poisons her own husband and lets Leona take the blame. Now that’s the kind of friend everyone should have.”
Annie’s phone rang. A quick look at caller ID told her it was Camilla. All she could imagine was that there was a problem.
“Hello?”
“Leona isn’t home. Any idea where she might have gone?”
Annie’s heart skipped a beat. She had a strong suspicion of where her aunt might be, and it wasn’t good.
“Yes. I’ll swing by and pick you up in about fifteen minutes.” Annie shoved her phone back into her jeans pocket. “I’ve gotta go. Leona isn’t home.”
“Can’t you call her to find out where she is?” Jason asked.
“No. I’m going to Cookies ‘n Dreams. I was afraid Leona might try to do some snooping around and get herself into a hot mess of trouble. If that’s where she is, she won’t answer my call and I want to get her out before someone else finds her first.”
Chapter 12
Camilla blew on her fingers. “I just about froze waiting for you.”
“Of course you did. Why aren’t you wearing warmer gloves? And a hat?” Annie was bundled up from the tip of her head to the tips of her toes and she still felt the cold when she was outside.
“I don’t like to wear a hat. It messes up my hair.” Camilla tossed her head and her blond bob swished back and forth. “These gloves are so thin they’re pretty much useless except in a warm car when I’m driving.” She held her hands in front of the hot air blowing from Annie’s heating syste
m. “Thank goodness you have a decent heater in your car. Where are we going anyway? What’s the plan?”
Annie turned onto Main Street. “The plan is to see if Leona used bad judgement and is watching Cookie Snow’s shop, or if she used terrible judgement and decided to break into Cookies ‘n Dreams to look for incriminating evidence.”
Camilla grimaced but didn’t say anything.
Annie parked behind Leona’s bright yellow Mustang. Another potential drain on her finances, Annie thought as she looked at the brand new flashy car; a recent upgrade she certainly didn’t need.
Leona was nowhere to be seen; not a good sign.
Annie held Camilla’s arm before she could open her door. “You stay here in case Leona turns up. If you see her, don’t let her leave.”
“Okay, but turn your car back on so I don’t get frostbite again.” Camilla fiddled with the radio station as soon as the heat blasted through the vent openings and jiggled her leg to the beat of the music; some female singer Annie had never heard before. They certainly didn’t enjoy the same choices in that department, she thought as she slammed the door shut and muted the screechy voice.
Annie looked up and down the street. The cold temperature must have been keeping most people inside since there were only a few diehards scuttling along the sidewalk. The sound of a door slamming shut diverted her gaze across the street to the driveway next to Cookies ‘n Dreams.
They must have been in a big rush because the door closed so hard it rattled the windows of the shop. Or a gust of wind blew it shut harder than was intended.
Annie dashed across the street, avoiding a big icy patch, just as Leona careened around the corner from the driveway along the side of Cookies ‘n Dreams onto the sidewalk. She paused for two seconds, her face flushed, then grabbed Annie’s arm. “What are you doing here? Never mind about that for now, we have to get out of here.” Leona pulled Annie across the street and let go of her arm when they were next to Annie’s car. “Follow me.”
