Very Buried Cheesecake (Black Cat Cafe Cozy Mystery Series Book 4)

by Lyndsey Cole

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright © 2015 Lyndsey Cole

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Behind the scenes with Lyndsey

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  OTHER BOOKS BY LYNDSEY COLE

  Very Buried Cheesecake

  A Black Cat Cafe Cozy Mystery Series

  by Lyndsey Cole

  Copyright © 2015 Lyndsey Cole

  No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the author and/or publisher. No part of this publication may be sold or hired, without written permission from the author.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are a product of the writer’s imagination and/or have been used fictitiously in such a fashion it is not meant to serve the reader as actual fact and should not be considered as actual fact. Any resemblance to actual events, or persons, living or dead, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.

  The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication / use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.

  Chapter 1

  Roxy lunged toward the water and Annie’s adrenaline surged, making her fingers tingle. One hand flew to her mouth stifling a gasp as the other hand tightened on Roxy’s leash. She couldn’t believe what she was staring at.

  A man’s body floated at the edge of Heron Lake, surging in and out as the waves grew. The wind picked up and the body was pushed farther onto the shore until it was wedged between two rocks. In the gray morning light, it blended in with the water and rocks. Almost invisible.

  Finding a body floating at the edge of Heron Lake would be enough to ruin anyone’s early morning walk. Was this an ominous sign of what was coming?

  With the Labor Day weekend approaching, and Annie’s big photography opening at her new Fisher Art Gallery only days away, this discovery didn’t exactly fit into her busy schedule. As a matter of fact, it added one more blow to her fragile confidence about her photography.

  Annie called Roxy away from the water’s edge just as she felt big raindrops hit her face. She paced as she fumbled to get her phone out of the pocket of her capris and dialed the police chief of Catfish Cove, her ex fiancé, Tyler Johnson. Before long, she heard sirens screaming out of Catfish Cove toward the Lake Trail where she waited. It gave her a few minutes to focus on the body, which fortunately was face down. Something seemed familiar about it but she couldn’t place what it was.

  Brown hair floated, almost elegantly, away from the man’s head as the waves lapped the shore. Dressed in a dark blue sports coat and leather loafers made Annie jump to the conclusion that the man must have been in the water since the night before.

  The scene felt gloomier as the seconds ticked by with the mountains shrouded behind the gray clouds. Lightning pierced the sky and a crack of thunder made her jump. Annie wrapped her arms around her chest, looking everywhere but at the body, hoping it was just a bad nightmare.

  She heard footsteps approaching and turned to see Tyler in yellow rain gear. He had a warm smile for Annie, even under the circumstances, and handed her a parka. “I thought you might have left before the rain started.”

  A petite woman stopped next to Tyler giving Annie the once over with a scowl on her face.

  “What are you doing here this early? In the rain,” she asked in a cool tone.

  Tyler looked from Annie to Christy. “Oh, sorry, you two haven’t met. Annie this is the new detective, Christy Crank. Christy, this is Annie Fisher. She lives on the lake down the trail a bit. She converted the pottery shop and fabric store in the Cove’s Corner building into the Fisher Fine Art Gallery.”

  Christy relaxed slightly before walking closer to the body. “Did you touch anything?” she asked without facing Annie.

  “No. I was walking on the trail with my dog before heading to work.” Annie patted Roxie’s head.

  “Working at your art gallery?”

  “No, someone runs the gallery for me. During the morning, I work across the hall at the Black Cat Café.”

  Christy flipped the body over. “Do you know who this is?” She asked as she knelt next to the body and looked up at Annie.

  Annie walked several steps closer. She almost gasped but swallowed the reaction. “No.” It wasn’t a lie, she told herself. She didn’t know what his name was but she had seen him with a woman at her gallery the day before.

  More officers arrived, milling around while they waited for instructions. Tyler held Annie’s arm and walked with her away from the body.

  “What’s with Detective Cranky?” Annie asked Tyler, nodding her head in Christy’s direction.

  “Cranky? Don’t let her hear you call her that.” Tyler suppressed a grin and checked to be sure they were out of earshot. “Sorry about her. This is her first job and she wants to prove herself. If we need anything else, I know where to find you.”

  Tyler started to walk back toward Christy. “Oh. One more question.” He held his hand around his mouth. “Will you save one of those delicious very berry cheesecakes for me? JC absolutely loves them.”

  “And you don’t?” Annie asked with her eyebrow raised, glad that Tyler wasn’t pushing her for more information about the dead man.

  “It’s okay, I guess,” he said with a big teasing grin.

  “I’ll set one aside for you.”

  Annie almost bumped into a woman rushing toward Tyler. The woman she saw going to her gallery the day before. The woman she saw with the dead man.

  Annie hurried back to her apartment over the detached garage at Cobblestone Cottage. She quickly changed into dry clothes and grabbed her bag and camera on the way out the door. Tossing her stuff on the passenger seat of her Subaru, she let Roxy in the back seat and headed down the hill to the center of Catfish Cove. The Cove’s Corner parking lot was mostly deserted this early in the morning.

  At six o’clock, she was already an hour behind schedule on a day with no time to spare.

  Leona was hard at work in the Black Cat Café when Annie arrived. She was putting the finishing touches on her latest pastry addition, the very berry cheesecakes. Each cheesecake was covered with strawberries, blueberries and raspberries with melted chocolate drizzled over the fruit. Another batch sat on the counter ready to go in the oven. With Leona’s favorite oldies station blasting in the background, Annie managed to sneak up behind Leona and poke her in the side.

  “Hey. I almost dumped all the batter out,” Leona shouted. “And, you’re late.”

  Annie grimaced and tied an apron around her waist. “You won’t believe what happened this morning.”

  “What? You found a body on your way to work?”

  Annie stopped
and stared at Leona. “How did you know already?”

  Leona’s eyes popped wide open. “Are you serious? I was only joking.” She leaned on the counter and turned down the music. “Give me the details.”

  Annie poured herself a cup of coffee and stole a raspberry scone from the pastry case. “I got up early to take Roxy for a quick walk along the Lake Trail and found a man floating at the edge of the water. Face down.” She took a bite of the scone. “Ruined my morning.”

  Leona took the blueberry muffins out of the oven and transferred them to the cooling rack. She filled the oven with the waiting cheesecakes. “Who was it?”

  “I don’t know, but I did see him yesterday. He came into the gallery with a woman who spent quite a bit of time talking to Camilla Rockwell.” Annie sipped her coffee. “You know, the woman I hired to help Martha in the gallery? She’s got an art background and is quite knowledgeable about art and is great with people. She’s been a huge help to Martha getting everything ready for my photography opening.”

  “And?” Leona asked.

  “And nothing,” Annie sipped her coffee, “except Camilla makes me feel inadequate about my photography.”

  “Maybe just a normal dose of nerves.” Leona smiled. “If it’s any help, I love your work.”

  The café door opened and Danny walked in carrying a big box of books. His face lit up as soon as he saw Leona. “I have another donation for the freebrary.”

  “Thanks. Get yourself some coffee and I’ll fix you up with a blueberry muffin fresh from the oven.”

  Danny carried the box to the bookshelves, poured his coffee and slid onto the stool next to Annie. He took a big bite of the muffin. “This is the best.”

  Leona and Annie laughed out loud. “You’ve had coffee and a blueberry muffin every day since I opened the café. Don’t you ever think about trying something different?” Leona asked.

  Danny swallowed. “Nope. Why change what’s not broken?”

  Leona shook her head. Annie filled the granola containers and pushed the cart to its spot next to the pastry case.

  Martha arrived with an armful of black cat aprons. “I thought you might need more to sell over the long weekend.” She held up aprons of every color covered with black cats sleeping, jumping, stretching and swatting at butterflies.

  “Beautiful and perfect timing. I’ll buy some for the café,” Leona said as she made a red, yellow and lime green selection. “Danny, this one is for you to wear since you’re working here now.”

  Danny blushed from all the women’s eyes on him. “Just helping when you need me, Leona.” He looked at the floor and stuck his hands in his pockets.

  Leona looped the apron around Danny’s neck. “Nonsense. You’re here every day anyway.” She stood back and checked the effect, winking at Danny. “Perfect. Red makes you look hot.”

  Martha and Annie covered their mouths to hide their giggles. Danny’s face matched the red in the apron and he was so tongue tied his mouth opened but nothing came out.

  Leona saved him by diverting the attention to Martha. “How’re the wedding plans coming along? Any changes I should know about?”

  Martha beamed. “I hope we’re all set since it’s only two days away. No changes. As long as you have your very berry cheesecake for after the ceremony, I’m happy. And champagne, of course.”

  “How’s Harry holding up? Any chance of him getting cold feet and not showing up?” Annie teased.

  Martha’s mouth clenched tight. “He better show up.” She headed toward the door to leave and Annie followed her out into the hall.

  Annie knew she hit a nerve which wasn’t her intention. “Sorry about that comment. Are you concerned about Harry?”

  “A little. Bob still isn’t talking to Harry ever since he proposed to me. I don’t want to be the reason those brothers can’t get along after sixty years of living together. What should I do?”

  “You’re going to have to sit down and have a serious talk with them both or this marriage will never work. And you’re running out of time. Are they coming to the opening tonight? Maybe that would be a neutral place for a chat.”

  “Maybe. I’ll think about it.”

  Annie patted Martha’s shoulder. “You’ve been working with Camilla for about a month now, what do you know about her?”

  “Camilla? She’s great with people, knows a ton about art. Why?”

  Annie glanced around but the hall was still empty. “A man was found dead in the lake this morning.” She left out the small detail of being the one to find the body. For now. “He came into the gallery yesterday with a woman who spent a lot of time talking to Camilla. The two women acted nervous, glancing around a lot.”

  “Who was the man? How do you know this already, Annie?”

  Annie sighed. “I found him when Roxy and I were taking our early morning walk. When the town’s new detective flipped him over I recognized him.”

  “Another murder?” Martha asked in shock.

  “I don’t know. I left soon after the police arrived but it gave me an odd feeling when I saw his face. There was something about the woman he was with yesterday when she was talking to Camilla. Nervous. In a rush. Did you notice her?”

  “Let me think.” Martha puckered her lips. “Yes. Long brown hair, wearing a lot of jewelry, attractive. Dressed in fancy clothes, not the typical Catfish Cove casual look. A style that would be hard to miss.”

  Annie’s phone beeped with a text from Tyler. That man was murdered. Meet me at the station.

  Chapter 2

  “What’s wrong?” Martha steadied Annie with one hand.

  “That was Tyler.” Annie looked into Martha’s eyes. “The dead man? He was murdered.”

  Martha pulled Annie into the office at the back of the gallery. “Sit down. What else?”

  Annie shook her head. “Just a feeling that this could be connected to Camilla.”

  Martha’s eyebrow shot up. “In what way?”

  Annie sighed and slumped in the chair. “You’re going to think I’ve lost my mind.” She paused before deciding whether to continue or not. “Okay, this is what’s been going through my head. I don’t think Camilla likes me.”

  Martha started to interrupt but Annie held her hand up. “Wait till I’m done. Camilla keeps finding fault with my work. This other woman showed up and they were huddled in a corner, whispering, and they kept glancing at me. It all feels odd. Now someone turns up dead.”

  Martha laughed. “Camilla told me she loves your work. Honey, I think your ego is a bit too sensitive. You’ll never please everyone with your photographs so you better grow a tougher, thicker skin if you want to put your work out for everyone to see. Camilla wants to help you grow as a photographer.”

  “I hope you’re right. Keep an eye on her for me, okay?” Annie stood up and took a deep breath. “I’m leaving Roxy in here with you while I’m at the police station.”

  The drive through town didn’t take long and Annie was pleased that the sky was starting to brighten. A quick early morning rain wasn’t so bad if the clouds opened up to a beautiful sunny day.

  Tyler was waiting for Annie as soon as she walked inside. “Come on back to my office so we can talk in private.”

  Annie’s improved mood disappeared at the tone of Tyler’s voice. “What’s going on Tyler?”

  He shut the door and motioned for Annie to sit in the chair opposite his desk. With his elbows on the table, he wove his fingers together and rested his chin on his hands. “Here’s the thing. We identified the man to be John Holland. Do you know him?”

  Annie shook her head. Her foot jiggled up and down.

  Tyler leaned back. “Have you seen him before?”

  Annie nodded.

  “Come on Annie. Why are you making this so difficult for me? You’re acting like you’re hiding something.”

  Annie sat on her hands to keep them still. “He came into the gallery yesterday with the woman I almost bumped into after I talked to you this morning. Who w
as that?”

  Tyler hesitated. “You must be referring to John Holland’s wife, Katherine. She showed up as you were leaving. Very distraught.”

  “Well, she was in the gallery yesterday. I didn’t talk to her, but there was something about her that I didn’t like.”

  “Okay, that’s a start.”

  “It wasn’t anything I can explain except she was talking to my employee, Camilla Rockwell, and they both kept looking at me.” Annie paused. “The woman you say is Katherine acted nervous.”

  Tyler shrugged as if that information wasn’t interesting to him at all. “She said she didn’t see her husband since sometime last night. Christy is out questioning everyone John Holland was seen with. I wanted to give you a warning. Christy plans to question you and search your gallery.”

  Annie lunged forward. “What? She can’t do that without a warrant.”

  Tyler leaned toward Annie. “I’m going to ask you again. Are you hiding something?”

  “No. Of course not, but I have my opening tonight. How will that look?”

  Tyler stood up. “Christy will have a warrant. Make it easy on yourself and cooperate with her. Don’t give her a reason not to like you, Annie.”

  “Tyler Johnson. Do you think I’m involved with this man’s death?” Annie leveled a chilling stare at Tyler.

  Tyler looked away before letting his eyes meet Annie’s. “Be careful. Please.”

  Annie stomped from his office, furious at his insinuation. She and Tyler had a history. He knew her and this wouldn’t be an issue if it wasn’t for that new detective, Christy Crank, or Cranky as Annie couldn’t help but think of her. What was her problem? Maybe she hated women.

  Annie had trouble focusing. She had been planning her first photography exhibit, Candid Around Catfish Cove, since July. Taking the photographs was the fun part. Putting the show together and worrying about people’s reactions to her art was sending her to the breaking point, she now admitted to herself. Somehow, she had to focus on getting ready for her show.

  When she returned to the café for a cup of coffee, the café was buzzing with talk about John Holland. Danny tapped her on her arm. “I need to talk to you.”