Red Velvet Cupcakes to Die For (A Liana Campbell Cozy Mystery Book 1)

by Alaine Allister

  “Hmm, bratty kid…” Liana thought for a moment and then her eyes narrowed. “I bet Justin Brown did this! That little punk is always getting in trouble. It makes perfect sense that he’d be behind this. He probably thinks he’s being funny.”

  It did make perfect sense.

  Justin was the perfect culprit.

  The chronically bored teenager had quite the rebellious streak. He was well known for pulling stupid, misguided pranks that only he found humorous. He had been in trouble for petty theft and vandalism in the past. In fact, Justin was the reason residents of the small town could no longer leave their keys in their vehicles: he loved to go joyriding.

  Justin was a brat.

  Maybe it was just a phase or maybe he was a juvenile delinquent destined for a life of crime. Liana wasn’t sure. All she knew was that the kid rarely faced any serious consequences for his deplorable actions. It was no wonder he kept acting out. Clearly he knew he could get away with his bad behavior.

  Liana wasn’t as forgiving as the town’s soft-hearted judge. She felt like Justin needed to be put in his place. That was why she scolded him any time she saw him misbehaving. In fact, she had kicked him out of her coffee shop several times for skateboarding inside.

  “That’s it!” Liana exclaimed. “I got after Justin and embarrassed him in front of his friends. The kid probably has it out for me now. But if he thinks I’m going to let him get away with this, he’s in for a rude awakening! Now where is my phone?”

  A hurried search revealed Liana’s misplaced cell phone. It was in the kitchen by the sink.

  Still seething, Liana made a call to the police station.

  She shared her theory with the uninterested-sounding officer who took her call. Unsurprisingly, he didn’t seem very concerned about the vandalism. He made a vague promise to send someone down to look at the door in the morning. When Liana insisted she needed to paint over the incriminating word immediately, he instructed her to take a photo first.

  With her cell phone still in her hand, Liana ran outside to snap a photo of the door.

  “Whoa!”

  Liana nearly collided with Reese, who just happened to be walking past the coffee shop.

  “Well fancy meeting you here,” he said when he had recovered from the surprise of nearly being run over. “People have told me you’re a bit of a workaholic, but wow. Shouldn’t you be at home in bed this time of night?”

  “I could say the same thing to you,” Liana replied. “What are you doing here? Every business in town is closed this late at night.”

  “Tell me about it. That’s the downside of living in a small place, I guess,” Reese complained. Then, when he realized Liana was still waiting for an answer, he explained, “I couldn’t sleep so I figured I’d go for a walk. I need to start learning my way around town!”

  Liana grinned, her mood instantly lifted. “Are you lost?” she asked teasingly.

  “No,” Reese replied defensively. “Not anymore,” he added with a playful wink.

  Immediately, Liana blushed. She hoped Reese would simply think her cheeks were red from the cold. She rubbed her bare hands together and shivered, suddenly becoming aware of just how frigid it was outside.

  “Where are your gloves?” Reese asked.

  “I wrecked them,” Liana informed him.

  “How did you do that?”

  “I got paint on them,” she sighed. Then, seeing his confusion, she pointed to the front door of her coffee shop. It was dark out, but the moon was out and the street lights were shining brightly. The awful word scrawled across the door was clearly visible.

  Reese screwed his face up in confusion. “Why would you do that?”

  Liana looked at him in bewilderment for a moment. Then it dawned on her: he thought she had vandalized her own business! She burst out laughing at the absurdity of that assumption. “I didn’t do it,” she explained. “I caught someone in the act.”

  “Oh,” he nodded. “That makes more sense. Who was it? Do you know?”

  “I have somebody in mind,” Liana replied, scowling as she thought of Justin Brown.

  “Are you heading home now?” Reese asked.

  “I wish I was. But unfortunately, no. I think I’m going to be here for a while. I need to get this door repainted before morning. Thankfully I think I have some leftover paint stashed away somewhere in my storage closet.”

  Reese surveyed the door. Then, sounding skeptical, he asked, “Liana, are you sure this is painting weather? It’s freezing out! I’m no expert, but I think you might want to wait until it warms up.”

  Liana wrinkled her nose. “I hadn’t thought of that. Okay, so no painting tonight. But I can’t just leave the door like this. What would people say? Hmm, I’m going to have to come up with something. But what?”

  “I wish I could help,” Reese shrugged. “But I should be going. My toes are going numb!”

  “That’s what happens when you don’t dress for the elements,” Liana teased. “Next time you go out for a late night walk, I bet you’ll remember your winter boots and scarf!”

  “Says the woman with no mittens,” Reese shot back.

  Suddenly Liana wasn’t cold anymore. She knew little about this man except that he had a fantastic smile and an amazing ability to make her heart race. She thought back to her conversation with Amy and decided to take her friend’s advice.

  “Do you want to, uh, maybe grab coffee sometime?” Liana blurted out before she lost her nerve.

  “What, like...at work?”

  “No. Not at work. Definitely not at work!”

  Reese furrowed his brow in confusion. “Isn’t Just Desserts the only coffee shop in town?”

  “Yes, it is,” Liana replied, feeling like a fool. “I didn’t mean coffee,” she told him, backtracking clumsily. “I meant, um...ice cream! Would you like to go for ice cream with me sometime?”

  Reese began to chuckle to himself. It definitely wasn’t the response Liana had been expecting, and it left her disheartened. Then Reese teased, “You’re the only woman I know who would invite someone out for ice cream in this frigid weather.”

  Mortified, Liana reached for the door handle. “You’re right. That was stupid idea. And it’s really, really cold out here...you’re right about that too.” She was babbling now, but she couldn’t help it. “I should get inside. Otherwise I might turn into an ice cube!”

  “Yes,” Reese agreed.

  “Well, I don’t think I’ll actually turn into an ice cube.”

  “I meant yes, I’ll go for ice cream with you.”

  “Oh. Oh!” Liana instantly began to beam. “Okay then! We’ll uh, I’ll uh….we’ll figure out a time at work, okay?” She nearly walked into the door as she made her way inside. “Night!” she called over her shoulder, not even caring that she had tracked a bunch of snow inside.

  As she watched Reese walk away, Liana began to do a little happy dance.

  Though the wet, dirty floor squeaked under her feet, she may as well have been walking on air.

  She was on cloud nine.

  Chapter 10

  At six o’clock the next morning, Liana was nearly murdered in her sleep.

  She was in the midst of a lovely dream about Reese. Then, just as he was about to kiss her, Liana felt a weight on her face. Suddenly she was struggling to breathe. She tried to force air into her lungs, but all she managed to do was cough uncontrollably.

  She sat up with a start, making Fluffy tumble into a soft pile of blankets.

  “Don’t do that!” Liana sputtered once she had caught her breath. “We’ve already had this conversation multiple times, Fluffy. You can’t just waltz into my bedroom and sit on my face when you want me to wake up and feed you!”

  “Mew,” Fluffy replied, as unapologetic as ever.

  The cat jumped off the bed and sauntered across the room.

  He paused in the doorway and looked over his shoulder at Liana expectantly.

  “Fine,” she sighed, crawling out
of the nice, warm flannel sheets. “I’ll get you your breakfast.”

  It was Liana’s day off. She seldom took time for herself, but as far as she was concerned, she had earned it. The previous night had left her completely exhausted, frustrated and very, very ready for a break.

  At first she had taped a piece of cardboard to her front door to conceal the vandalism. Unfortunately, it had been an eyesore. Even after she and Fluffy had returned home, she had wracked her brain for a better solution.

  At four in the morning, Liana had climbed out of bed and rummaged around inside her closet. Fluffy had woken up only long enough to glare at her before resuming his snoring. And then Liana had fashioned a wreath out of a wire clothes hanger, some garland and a few ornaments stolen from the back of her Christmas tree.

  After bundling up, Liana had driven down to Main Street to hang the wreath. Even though it had been hastily made, it was a lot prettier than an old scrap of cardboard. She had been pleased to find that the wreath covered the awful graffiti nicely. It also gave the quaint little shop a cheerful, festive feel.

  Unfortunately, today Liana was sleep-deprived. Had it not been for Fluffy attempting to suffocate her, she probably could have kept snoozing for another three hours.

  “I am so ready for a day off,” Liana sighed to herself as she opened a tin of cat food.

  Then she remembered she needed to deal with Justin. She also needed to look into her theory that Penny had killed Colin. And she was pretty sure there was something else she was forgetting to o…

  “I’m going to go to the skate park first,” Liana told Fluffy.

  The cat didn’t seem to care. He was too busy gobbling to even look up.

  Justin was probably at the skate park. He and his friends hung out there a lot. During the winter, they simply switched over from skateboards to snowboards. Liana knew she would have to resist the urge to wrestle Justin’s snowboard away and smack him over the head with it.

  Liana jumped into her car, thankful to see that the street outside her house had been cleared and sanded overnight. Then she began to drive.

  Suddenly it hit her.

  “I’m supposed to be watering Clarissa’s plants!” Liana exclaimed in dismay. In all the kerfuffle, it had kind of slipped her mind. She hoped her best friend’s prized plants were of the drought resistant variety.

  The skate park could wait.

  Liana abruptly turned her car around and headed in the opposite direction.

  When Liana arrived at her best friend’s house, she wasted no time. She rushed inside and gave each and every plant a generous drink. She desperately hoped their wilted leaves would perk up once they were hydrated.

  Orchids, African violets and miniature roses were beautiful. There was also an unidentified purple flower with a fuschia center that was quite mesmerizing. But Liana was glad she didn’t have a bunch of highly temperamental houseplants to care for on a regular basis. It seemed like entirely too much work.

  At least Fluffy reminded her when it was mealtime...rather aggressively, at that.

  On her way out of the house, Liana spotted a figure in the woods.

  She felt bolder in the daylight, so she stopped and squinted.

  “Luke?” she called, shading her eyes from the sun. “Is that you?”

  Luke spun around at the sound of her voice. Then he appeared to freeze, reminding her of a deer caught in headlights. After a moment, he gave a small, reluctant wave. He didn’t seem pleased to see her, but she didn’t care.

  Liana’s curiosity was piqued and she wanted answers.

  She marched through the snow out to where Luke stood.

  “What are you doing out here?” she demanded once they were face-to-face.

  “I’m, uh…”

  Liana reached out and grabbed the strap of Luke’s black backpack. “You were wearing this the last time I ran into you out here,” she recalled. “I assumed it was a telescope, but you can’t expect me to believe you’re out here stargazing in the middle of the day. What’s up?”

  “I’m....just going for a walk,” Luke told her unconvincingly.

  “Ha! Likely story. What’s in here and why is it so top secret?” Liana pressed. When Luke didn’t immediately answer the question, she tried to unzip his backpack so she could see its contents for herself.

  “Hey, stop that!” Luke snapped.

  There was such urgency in his voice that Liana stopped dead in her tracks. She had never heard Luke raise his voice like that before. Normally he was such a good-natured, polite, easy-going guy. She recoiled as though she had been burned.

  “Sorry,” he mumbled, looking like he wanted to burrow into the snow and disappear.

  “It’s my fault. I’m the one who owes you an apology,” she told him, wondering if she had inadvertently crossed a line. Maybe she had been too aggressive. “I shouldn’t have grabbed your backpack like that. Sorry. I was just curious.”

  “It’s fine,” Luke assured her, his eyes downcast. “I’ve gotta go.”

  Before Liana could say a word, her longtime acquaintance turned and practically ran back toward town. He left her standing there dumbfounded, trying desperately to make sense of what had just happened.

  ***

  “Luke is weird, Fluffy. I’m telling you, he’s up to something. I’ve caught him twice now, lurking in the woods by Clarissa’s house. And he’s being all secretive about why he’s out there. I don’t like it. I don’t like it one bit.”

  “Meow,” Fluffy replied, eyeing Liana’s tuna fish sandwich.

  “You have a big bowl of cat food in the kitchen,” Liana reminded the cat.

  Fluffy gave her a skeptical look.

  “Okay, fine. I need to get going anyway,” Liana said as she pushed her sandwich toward the cat. “I’m going to go talk to Penny again” she informed her companion, who was already chowing down. “Wish me luck.”

  Liana’s drive to the leisure center took her right past Just Desserts.

  She slowed down as she passed by, peering in the windows curiously. So far Reese had been doing an excellent job of running the coffee shop for her. He was competent at his job and great with customers. So in short, he was everything Joel hadn’t been.

  It was nice to be able to take a day off and trust that the place was in capable hands.

  Of course, it would be nicer once Liana had solved Colin’s murder.

  That was what she hoped to do today.

  As she pulled up outside the leisure center and made her way inside, she tried to come up with a plan. She didn’t know exactly what she was going to say. No matter how she rehearsed it in her head, every scenario she came up with was strange and awkward sounding.

  There was no getting around it. She was about to make Penny think she was a big weirdo.

  “I hope Penny is working today!” Liana whispered under her breath as she stepped inside the building. No sooner than the words had escaped her lips, she saw that familiar, spiky blonde hair. Excellent.

  “Hi,” Penny called out. “Wait, don’t tell me...it’s Liana, right?”

  “Yes,” Liana nodded. “Hello!”

  “Did you change your mind about signing up for yoga class?” Penny asked with a grin. She was clad in fitted grey sweatpants, red running shoes and a long sleeveless red tank top that showed off her muscles.

  “Nope,” Liana replied, feeling out of place in her stiff blue jeans and pink parka.

  “Not your thing, huh? Well that’s okay. We’ve got plenty of other options to choose from. There’s a cycling class, a hip hop dance class, weightlifting, swimming…you name it, really. So, what will it be?”

  “Wow!” Liana exclaimed, unable to hide how impressed she was. “I didn’t realize the leisure center offered all those classes. That’s pretty much unheard of in such a small town, isn’t it?”

  “Oh, for sure,” Penny agreed, practically swelling with pride. “When I started running this place, I decided I didn’t want people to have to commute to Green City to en
joy their favorite activities. We offer everything here that one could expect to find in a big city - I make sure of it. Next month I’m starting up a kickboxing class.”

  “How do you find enough people to teach all the classes?” Liana asked curiously.

  “That’s a never-ending chore,” Penny sighed. “As it stands now, Saturday is my only day off. The rest of the time I’m here teaching the classes myself. I mean, don’t get me wrong - it’s great for staying in shape! But it makes it tough to have a life, you know?”

  Liana nodded, but she was preoccupied.

  Her mind was whirling as she processed what Penny was telling her.

  “Everything alright?” Penny asked, sensing Liana’s distraction.

  “Sure, sure. I uh...I don’t suppose you have a class schedule?” Liana asked hopefully.

  “As a matter of fact, I do. Hang on one sec.”

  Relief washed over Liana. Now she could verify Penny’s whereabouts without having to come right out and question her. That was good. It was very good. In a small town, it was never wise to make enemies; they had a way of popping up everywhere and making one’s life miserable.

  “Here you go,” Penny said, returning from the back room. She held a piece of paper in her hand.

  “Great!” Liana exclaimed, grabbing the paper and eagerly examining it. She quickly discovered that a swim class had been taking place exactly when Colin had died. She cleared her throat. “You teach the swim class, right?”

  “I sure do. In fact, I teach two classes back-to-back.”

  “Oh?”

  “I coach youth swimming lessons and then I do a water aerobics class for adults. I know that sounds like a lot. I wind up pretty pruny after being in the water for so long! But swimming is a great form of exercise. It’s low impact and easy on the joints. I love it.”

  “Yeah,” Liana agreed, her mind a million miles away. “So you don’t ever get a break? I mean, no one else ever takes over for you? No one ever, say...coaches your swimming lessons from time to time so you can have the day off?”

  “I wish,” Penny chuckled. “Are you offering?”

  “Ha! My idea of swimming is sitting in a hot tub with a cold margarita and a good book.”