One Last Bite_A Darling Bakery Cozy Mystery

by Brenda De Witt

  Dani almost wanted to cry she was so happy. “Thank you, Marla. I don’t know how I’ll repay you.”

  “Just bring me one of those Red Velvet cupcakes when they’re ready,” Marla said and pushed Dani out the door.

  Chapter 19

  Dani balanced several boxes of cupcakes in her arms as she attempted to slide the Darling Bakery van doors closed with her hip. Having an antique van was good for advertising, but it was murder for deliveries. At that moment all Dani wished for was one of those new vans where you just waved your foot under the door and it opened and closed on its own.

  Once she finally got the door closed she headed up the stairs of the loading dock on the back side of the Garrison Hotel.

  “Hi,” she said addressing the security guard posted in a little booth at the top of the stairs. “I have a delivery for the Daughters of Riley Gala.”

  The security guard stuck a clipboard out the window.

  “You have to sign in,” he said gruffly.

  Dani looked around for somewhere to sit the boxes she was holding, but there wasn’t a table or bench in sight.

  “I’m sorry, I can’t exactly write with my hands full,” she said hoping the guard would just let her pass. After all, it was obvious that she had a delivery to make.

  “Now I can’t just let you walk in without signing in, can I?” he said with a furrowed brow. “What if you have a bomb in there or something?” He motioned his head toward Dani’s stack of boxes.

  “I can promise you I don’t have a bomb,” Dani said playing along with the little game. “Feel free to take a look for yourself.”

  The security guard stepped out of his booth and opened the top box.

  “I guarantee you these are the best cupcakes you’ll ever taste,” she said nonchalantly. “In fact, I think one of them might have your name on it.”

  Dani always put a few extra cupcakes in every order she made. She knew there were times when cupcakes were better than keys at opening some doors.

  The security guard’s eyes lit up as he reached into the box and took a cupcake.

  “Go head in,” he said with crumbs already falling on his shirt. “I’ll sign in for you.” He stepped around Dani and opened the door leading inside the building. “The elevator is to your right. The gala is in the Crystal Ballroom on the first floor.”

  “Thanks!” Dani said as she breezed past the guard. She didn’t mind giving away free cupcakes to hard working people. No doubt the guard probably got lonely sitting in his little booth all day with nothing but garbage dumpsters to look at out his window.

  When Dani got up to the first floor she followed the signs pointing to the kitchen. A flurry of uniformed waiters, cooks, and other hotel personnel were running back and forth. They all looked a little stressed out.

  “Excuse me, I’m here to deliver the cupcakes for the gala,” Dani said when she finally got someone’s attention.

  A tall thin man wearing a white cooks hat nodded in the direction of a set of double doors. “The banquet hall is right through those doors. I think there’s already a table set up for the desserts. Watch out for the hostess when you get in there. She’s wearing a silver dress and spewing fire from her mouth,” he said sarcastically.

  She knew immediately the man must have been describing Sarah Peterson. “Thanks for the warning!” Dani said suddenly understanding why everyone must have looked so stressed out.

  Dani pushed one of the swinging kitchen doors open with her butt and maneuvered her way into the ballroom. The atmosphere on the other side took her breath away. The ballroom was much more ornate than she’d expected. Everything glimmered. The silver chairs with beautiful white velvet cushions surrounded white linen tables with the most elaborate centerpieces Dani had ever seen. No doubt Sarah had ordered those from some fancy event place in Atlanta and probably paid a fortune for them.

  The whole length of one wall was mirrored causing the room to look even larger and more elegant than it already was. It also made it look like there was more than one Sarah Peterson rushing in her direction.

  “There you are!” Sarah’s voice cut through the air.

  A few of the hotel staff scurried out of her path as Sarah made a beeline to Dani.

  “You’re late,” she said without saying hello. “The guests are scheduled to arrive any minute now and I don’t want them to see you in here.”

  Dani tried not to take the comment too personally, although she was well aware that her jeans and pink Darling Bakery t-shirt didn’t match the elegance of the ballroom.

  “It will only take me a few minutes to get the cupcakes set up,” Dani explained making a point to keep her voice calm. “If I can just put these boxes down somewhere. Then I’ll go back to my van and get the display stand.”

  Dani knew the multi-tiered stand that Rhonda made was going to look fabulous in this space. Rhonda had really gone all out on the design. She even put strands of little white lights along the edge of each tier. Dani couldn’t wait to plug in all in and see how it looked in the ballroom.

  “Why don’t I give you a hand,” a deep voice spoke from behind Dani.

  Dani recognized the voice immediately, but she wasn’t prepared for the image she saw when she turned around. Clint was wearing a white dinner jacket and black slacks. Dani had never seen him in something that fancy and he looked as yummy as the cupcakes she was holding.

  “Oh, Clint, Darling. I don’t want you to mess up your tux doing a job I’ve already paid someone else to do,” Sarah said as she cut her eyes in Dani’s direction.

  Dani’s jaw clenched, but she managed to keep a polite smile on her face. And reminded herself that she still needed to get a check from Sarah to finish paying for the order.

  “It’s no problem, Sarah. I think I can manage to stack a few cupcakes without getting my clothes dirty. Of course, I can’t guarantee that I won’t eat one or two.” Clint laughed and winked at Dani. “Is the rest of the stuff you have to bring in at the loading dock?”

  “Yeah,” Dani mumbled, still a little speechless from the sight of Clint in his tux. “There’s a box in the back of my van with everything I need in it.”

  “Be right back!” Clint said as he strode away quickly.

  Both Sarah and Dani watched his exit.

  “Well, please work as fast as you can,” Sarah said once Clint was out of earshot.

  When Clint got back with the display stand, it took Dani less than 20 minutes to get everything set up.

  “Dani, this looks great!” Clint leaned closer to whisper in her ear. “I think even Sarah’s snooty friends will be impressed.”

  Dani couldn’t help but blush at both the compliment and the warm feeling she got with Clint standing so close. For a moment she wished she had a fancy dress on and could stay at the gala with him.

  “Alright, it looks like you’re finally finished,” Sarah said appearing from nowhere. “Here’s your check. We’re about to open the doors and let our guests in, so I need you to scoot.”

  Sarah waved her hand like she was dismissing a child and Dani had to once again suppress the urge to crown her with a white chocolate frosted cupcake.

  ***

  By the time Dani got home, it was almost 9:30. She’d been on her feet for more than 15 hours straight and her head was pounding. As soon as she walked through the front door she realized she’d forgotten to stop at the store to get more cat food.

  “I’m sorry, Sheba. I guess you’ll just have to eat tuna tonight.”

  Sheba let out a loud purr.

  After Dani scooped the tuna into Sheba’s dish and she opened another kitchen cabinet looking for a bottle of aspirin.

  “I know I must have some aspirin in here somewhere,” Dani said hopefully.

  Instead of a bottle, Dani found an aspirin box. The kind that holds little foil packets of aspirin. She opened the box. “One packet left,” she said with a grateful sigh, but when Dani tried to tear the packet open it slipped out of her hands and flew across
the floor.

  Sheba, obviously thinking Dani was playing a game with her, pounced on the foil packet and began batting it around the room.

  “No, Sheba,” Dani begged. “I need the aspirin inside!”

  Sheba ignored Dani’s plea and continued to play with the little packet. She circled around it like a hunter stalking prey and then pounced. The force of her landing sent the packet spinning across the floor and under the stove.

  “Sheba!” Dani shouted. “Now how am I going to get it from under there?”

  Sheba just sat there flicking her tail as if she was waiting for Dani to come up with a solution that would allow her to get back to playing her game. Dani’s head was pounding so hard now that she felt dizzy as she walked. She stumbled over to the closet in the corner and got a broom. Leaning on the handle, she eased herself down to the floor and stuck the broom handle under the stove, but after a few failed attempts she gave up on trying to retrieve the aspirin packet.

  “Oh, Sheba,” Dani moaned. “If you only knew how much I needed that aspirin.” She crumpled to the floor in defeat.

  “What in the world is going on in here,” Marla asked as she came through the door. “Dani, what are you doing on the floor? Are you okay?”

  Dani told Marla about her throbbing headache and Sheba’s determination to play hockey with the only aspirin Dani had in the house.

  ‘Don’t worry dear. I have some aspirin in my purse. Why don’t you go into the living room and sit down while I go get it.”

  A few minutes later Marla sat down next to Dani on the couch and handed her a glass of water and two aspirin. As Dani waited for the medicine to take effect she noticed several stacks of neatly folded clothes sitting on the living room chairs across from her.

  “I couldn’t just sit around all day,” Marla said. “I decided to go through the things we found in Guy’s motel room. Some of the clothes needed to be washed, so I just made a day of it and washed the things I found in your dirty clothes hamper too. I hope you don’t mind.”

  “Why would I mind,” Dani said gratefully. “I don’t usually expect my house guests to wash clothes, but there’s no way I’m going to be upset about some much-needed help around here.”

  Marla smiled and let out a sigh of relief. “I made sure to check the pockets before I put anything in the wash. I sat the things I found right here on the coffee table so you’d find them.

  Now that Dani’s head was beginning to clear, she leaned forward and looked at the things sitting on the table. There wasn’t much there, just some loose change, a tube of lip balm and a business card.

  “Grant Taylor,” Dani read as she looked at the card. An image of the tall dark-haired construction project manager popped into her head. “That’s who I saw,” Dani said.

  Marla looked at her not sure what she was talking about.

  “Yesterday when we stopped at the house on Reynolds Ave. I thought I saw someone I recognized,” Dani explained. “It was the man who gave me this business card.”

  “Speaking of Guy,” Marla said at the memory of the place where her friend was found. “I found these in his jacket pockets.” Marla reached over to the table near her side of the couch and picked up several EpiPens. “I started to thrown them away, but then I remembered how expensive they are and thought maybe we could give them to someone who needs them.”

  That was a good idea, Dani thought as she took the handful of medical injectors from her. There were so many of them that Dani dropped one on the floor.

  Sheba, thinking her game had begun again, ran over and batted the injector across the room. As Dani watched it spin across the floor a lightbulb went off in Dani’s mind!

  Dani needed to go to the Reynolds Ave house. Right now! Dani knew Marla might want to go with her so she made up an excuse to get out of the house alone.

  “Marla, I need to run to the grocery store real quick,” she said as she picked up the EpiPen Sheba was now playing with. “Would you mind staying here with Sheba? I think she may be feeling a little lonely.” That part was true. Dani realized Sheba had been spending a lot of time in that big house by herself which might explain her over the top playfulness this evening.

  “Oh, I’d love to stay here with Sheba,” Marla said as she picked up the yellow tabby cat.

  While Sheba was basking in Marla’s attention, Dani hurried out of the house.

  Chapter 20

  Everything was quiet when Dani parked the van on the side street near the Reynolds Ave. house. It was almost 11pm and most of the lights in the quiet neighborhood were off.

  Dani reached into the backseat of her car and pulled out an umbrella and then tiptoed up to the front door.

  “2, 6, 5, 7,” Dani mumbled softly, grateful that she was able to remember the number that Lisa Atwood had repeated so many times.

  The lock clicked and Dani opened the door softly and stepped into the house.

  Once inside, she was greeted by the pungent odor she remembered from her first visit to the house — cigarettes and mildew — although the cigarette smell seemed even stronger this time. Dani held her nose and only breathed through her mouth. No wonder Lisa was so happy about getting permission to replace the carpet, Dani thought as she moved through the house.

  When she reached the kitchen she hurried over to the stove. She was about to get down on her knees, but when the light from her cell phone hit the floor she hesitated. Why hadn’t she thought to bring a towel or something? Shrugging off the oversight and reminding herself that her current mission was more important than getting a little dirt on her hands, Dani got down on all fours — just as she had done in her own kitchen — and peered under the stove.

  At first, all she could make out was a graveyard of insects caught in greasy spiderwebs that sparkled with the beam from the cell phone flashlight hit them. Her mouth twisted at the sight, but then her eyes landed on the object she was looking for.

  Dani picked up the umbrella laying on the floor beside her and stuck the pointy end under the stove. It took her a few tries, but eventually, she swept the umbrella at just the right angle and the EpiPen came spinning out from under the appliance.

  Dani was just about to stand up when a gruff voice pierced the darkness.

  “Thanks for doing the hard work for me,” the deep voice said.

  Dani jumped in fright. She turned her head toward the sound of the voice, but all she could see was a shadowy figure wearing a baseball cap — and holding a gun!

  “I really wasn’t looking forward to getting down on that dirty floor,” the person said with a cough. “Too bad I can’t show my appreciation in a more generous way. Now, why don’t you stand up real slow and we’re going to take a little walk out the front door.”

  Dani’s mind raced trying to figure a way out of the situation and also trying to figure out who this threatening stranger was. When she came to the house all she was expecting was to find Guy’s EpiPen in hope of proving that he had one with him the day he died. She wasn’t expecting to come face to face with someone holding a gun. Dani had to think fast.

  “There must be some kind of mistake,” Dani said as she rose to her feet ready to plead for her life. “I just came here to take a look at these old appliances. I knew the real estate agent was going to get rid of them and I thought there might be something here I could use for my bakery.”

  Now on her feet, Dani turned the cellphone so that the light from the screen illuminated the person standing only a few feet from her.