Red, White, and Blueberry Muffin Murder

by Addison Moore

  “Fireplace poker,” Leo says as he pounces over at him.

  Bridger lets out a howl of a cry as Leo does his best to slash at the man’s face, and achieves the bloody feat, too.

  “You witch!” Bridger howls as he lunges right at me and knocks me to the ground.

  “Lemon?” Everett’s voice booms from the woods.

  “I’m down he—”

  Bridger lands his hand over my mouth before I can finish shouting for help.

  I bite down hard, causing him to move an inch and let out a shrill scream before he clamps back over me.

  “Be quiet!” he growls. “I’m going to have to drown you, Lottie. It’ll look like an accident. And while you’re dying, I want you to think about the fact you did this. You put this pain on Everett’s heart, not me.”

  Leo appears standing on Bridger’s back. “Don’t worry, Lottie. Those slashes over his face are just the beginning of the affection I’m going to show him.”

  My hand glides down my thigh before I inch up my dress. And then slowly, blissfully, my hands curl around my good friend, Ethel.

  “Are you ready, Lottie?” he pants as he strengthens his grip over me. “Are you ready to meet your maker?”

  I give a quick nod and feel his hand loosening just enough, so I do the only thing I can—I clamp down over it with my teeth once again.

  Bridger pulls back his hand just enough for me to kick him in the cookies.

  “Good shot,” Leo muses.

  Bridger lets out an awful groan as he doubles over his crotch and I use the opportunity to shove my foot in his chest. I send him flying back before pulling Ethel out of her holster—and just as I’m about to lift her up, he swipes that fire poker off the ground and raises it over his head.

  A hand comes up from behind him, snatches the poker away, and the two of them break into a fistfight.

  I recognize that dark head of hair, those flaming blue eyes.

  “Everett!” I shout as they crash over a table. “Get away from him. I have Ethel!” The gun shakes in my hands as I say it, but the two of them just keep going at it.

  “I’m sorry, Lemon,” Everett grits the words out as he throws another punch. “This is personal.” He grabs Bridger by the shirt and pulls him in. “Nobody hurts my wife,” he thunders.

  Leo zips before me and a trail of tiny silver stars glimmers all around him.

  “It’s happening, isn’t it?”

  I give a mournful nod his way. “I’m afraid your time has come—again.”

  His striped and spotted fur begins to dissipate.

  “Goodbye, Lottie. Do lick Lyla Nell over the cheek for me. If I’m going out, I’m going out in style.” He bullets over to where the bar brawl is still taking place and lets out a sharp roar before giving Bridger’s face one final slash. And then just like that, Leo disappears in a plume of silver stars.

  “Magnificent,” I whisper as those miniature stars trail all the way through the night sky and straight up to paradise where they belong.

  Noah runs this way, knocking down tables as he hops over them.

  “Freeze,” he shouts, pulling out his weapon, but Everett continues to get a few good right hooks in.

  “Do something, Noah,” I say, wagging my gun in their direction.

  Noah puts his weapon away. “I’m calling it in.” He fires off a text before putting away his phone. “Keep Ethel trained in their direction. Try not to shoot me. Shooting Everett is optional.”

  “Very funny,” I growl. “Get in there.”

  Noah jumps into the fray, knocks Bridger to the ground, and in five hot seconds, Bridger is cuffed with his hands tight behind his back.

  Noah helps Bridger up while Everett staggers my way.

  “Lemon.” He pulls me in hard, and I can feel his heart hammering hard over my chest. “Did he hurt you?” He pulls back and examines me as he struggles to catch his breath.

  “I’m sorry,” Bridger calls out with striations of blood across his face.

  “Sorry you were caught?” Everett says as he holds me close.

  “That too.” Bridger closes his eyes a moment.

  “He did it.” I nod to Noah. “He confessed to killing Clark. And Noah? That ATM thief you’re after? You’ve already got him. Bridger did it. He programmed a skimmer card and stole the money. He washed it all around town and through Clark Willoughby’s shops, just like you said.”

  Everett groans, “You were a good guy, Bridger. What the heck made you steal?”

  Bridger winces as if it pained him to say. “I could, so I did.” He sighs hard. “I did it once to see if I could pull it off, and after that, it was addictive. The high I got doing a heist was just as powerful as holding all that money. One thing led to the next, and before I knew it, I was firing a gun in Clark’s direction. He didn’t deserve it. I fell so fast, so far, I had lost all hold on reality.”

  Red and blue flashing lights speed this way, no siren.

  “That’s my ride.” Bridger shakes his head. “I’m sorry,” he says one more time as Noah leads him toward the patrol car.

  An explosion of light goes off overhead and Everett holds me tight as we watch the sky ignite in a red, white, and blue spectacle.

  “Come on.” Everett gives me a kiss to the nose. “Let’s find Lyla Nell and enjoy the show with her.”

  We do just that, and soon Noah joins us, too.

  Lyla Nell squeals and screams with delight as the firework display lights up all of Honey Hollow as if it were noon. Noah bought a pair of cute little pink earmuffs, noise reduction headphones, that are safe for Lyla Nell to wear around loud noises. And because of that, we’ve decided to let her stay and watch the fiery spectacle with the rest of us.

  But I don’t keep my eyes on the sky. I keep them on my baby girl. It turns out, the show is that much better if I watch it through my daughter’s eyes.

  I want to see her smiling like this forever, and I know that Everett wants to see it, too.

  That’s exactly why I need to be vigilant. Time is running out, and like Nell said, by my own actions I have the power to stop this.

  Noah

  “Well done, Detective,” Ivy says as we finish up with a meeting of the ATM task force for the last time right here in my office.

  The task force is comprised of five men and three women, myself included, and we’ve just enjoyed a box of crullers from the Cutie Pie Bakery and Cakery that I picked up on the way over, still piping hot.

  “Thank you,” I say. “But like I mentioned, it was Lottie who put it together.”

  “What can we say?” An exasperated sigh comes from Ivy as she shakes her head at the thought. “Lottie sure seems to be generous to you in every capacity.”

  The door to my office flies open and in jump not one but two Sawyer women, each whipping open their very own tan trench coat, exposing us to far too much flesh, and not a stitch of clothing to go with it.

  An expletive flies from my lips as the two of them stand there with a mild look of surprise before closing up shop.

  “Like I said,” Ivy muses. “She is generous in every capacity.”

  “Meeting’s over,” I shout and motion for my coworkers to bolt to the four corners of the earth.

  Ivy takes a breath as she passes by Carlotta and Charlie. “Nice work last night, Lottie.”

  About a thousand words choke their way up my throat, and not one of them makes it out alive.

  Carlotta shuts the door and the two of them fall into the seats in front of my desk.

  “Good going,” I say to Charlie, and it comes out rough. “They thought you were Lottie.”

  She shrugs. “I’ll let you think I’m Lottie all you want.” She claws at the air and winks my way.

  Carlotta tips her head. “I’d take her up on the offer if I were you, Foxy. Just close your eyes, they’re one and the same more or less. Who knows when Lot will come to her senses and give you the golden ticket back to her bedroom? And this way you could give Little Yippy a sib
ling to pick on her once in a while. Lord knows someone’s got to set her straight.” She turns to Charlie. “Just drop the rugrat off at Lot’s place in a basket and play ding dong ditch. She’ll raise it as her own. Miranda Lemon injected just the right amount of her gullibility into Lot.”

  Charlie dips her chin my way. “What do you say, Detective? Is it baby making day?”

  “It’s a hard no,” I tell her and she proceeds to flip me the bird before snagging a donut out of the box.

  I slide a pile of napkins their way. “Now what did you come here for? Are you trying to get me fired? Because you’re off to a good start.”

  “I’ll cut to the chase, Foxy.” Carlotta leans my way. “We need one hundred big ones to get rid of Rooster. Sexy and Jimmy already shut me down.”

  “We talked about this the other day at Red Satin,” I remind her. “There’s no guarantee that Rooster is leaving town even if you give him one hundred G’s. If I can give you one word of advice, it’s don’t negotiate with terrorists. You’ll only live to regret it.”

  My phone rings and I look down at my desk to see the initials JC staring back at me.

  “That’s Jimmy Canelli, isn’t it?” Charlie nods.

  Carlotta gasps. “Well, don’t just sit there, Foxy. He’s probably trying to get in touch with me to give me my money. I knew Jimmy would come through.”

  Charlie frowns over at her mother. “Now why would he call Noah to get in touch with you?”

  “It’s his way of letting Foxy know he’s watching him like a hawk. Jimmy Canelli is always one step ahead of the game.”

  I pick up and put it on speaker just in case he decides to say something that should be relayed to Lottie in the event I meet my demise.

  “Noah here.” I twitch my brows at Charlie and Carlotta as I wait for a response.

  “It’s Jimmy.” He takes an audible breath. “I hope you’re doing well this fine day. I saw you made another arrest last night. Well done, Detective. Now that your schedule has freed up a bit, I’d like for you to find a way to make Moretti Jr. disappear. Just a heads-up. His boys are planning something big, and according to my sources, it’s coming down the pike next month. I’m hearing rumblings, and I don’t like it. His men are making threats. They’re getting personal. If anything happens to me, I’ve arranged for something to happen to you. How do you like that, Detective? We’re sort of tied at the eternal hip. See you around or see you in paradise. I guess it’s your choice.”

  The line goes dead and Carlotta slams her hand over the table.

  “Way to go, Foxy.” She glowers my way. “You had a line to the big guy and you hogged it all for yourself. All you had to do was say you’ll get your way if Spider gets hers.”

  Spider is a nickname given to Carlotta by one of her good friends who also happens to be a Canelli.

  I nod her way. “I’ll try to be more considerate the next time I speak to him.” I lean back in my chair and try to absorb this new threat Jimmy just leveled me with.

  Charlie narrows her eyes over mine. “Manny Moretti is trouble. He’s lethal, Noah.”

  “Not lethal enough,” Carlotta grunts. “He couldn’t even finish off our troubles.”

  “Are you talking about Rooster?” I sit up, suddenly interested in the turn of events.

  “That’s right.” Charlie’s lips knot up. “I think I’ll go pay good ol’ Manny a visit and let him know exactly how I feel about the fact he can’t do anything right.” She cinches her purse to her shoulder and disappears faster than I can open my mouth to stop her.

  “Charlie, wait,” I call after her, but she’s halfway to that hotel Manny is holing up in. “She’s going to make things worse.”

  “She always does.” Carlotta shakes her head. “But there’s no getting rid of her either. She takes poison about as well as Rooster.”

  I’m not even touching that one.

  I lean my head against my chair and close my eyes.

  Jimmy and I are tied at the eternal hip.

  I’ll admit, I did not see that one coming.

  Let’s hope Manny and his men don’t see what I have coming for them either.

  Now just what could that be…

  Everett

  Two sessions at the bench wrapped up in record time, so I cut out early for the day, just an hour before quitting time, but even that feels like a vacation at this point. I sent Lemon a text, and she let me know she was still at the bakery, so that’s exactly where I’ve landed myself.

  I step inside, and the scent of fresh baked blueberry muffins hits me in the very best way.

  Lily gives a friendly wave from the register as she helps out the customers, just as my beautiful wife makes a beeline for me and I land a kiss to her lips before she can close the distance between us.

  My heart thumps just being near her.

  I’ve never had a woman affect me in this manner before.

  I knew Lemon was special the day we bumped into one another, physically speaking, just outside of the courthouse the day we met. She stirred things up in me immediately, and I couldn’t for the life of me put my finger on why. I was flooded with thoughts of her instantly. I couldn’t see straight until I tracked her down again, and that’s when I found out Noah was already doing his best to lay claim to her. I wanted what was best for Lemon even then. And if that was Noah, then so be it. But I couldn’t leave her. I had zero intention of stepping out of her life.

  She had me wrapped around her little finger. She caged me in so efficiently, I didn’t even realize what had happened.

  “Everett.” Lemon has a huge grin on her face as she wraps her arms around my body, and if I didn’t know better, I’d think I just heard her sigh with relief. “Thank God, you’re okay.”

  I pull back, puzzled. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

  “Oh”—she gets flustered for a moment—“you know, traffic at this time can be a real killer.” She shudders in my arms as she says that last word. “I’m just glad to see you. How about I get you something sweet to eat?” She winks my way while quickly landing a plate of fudge brownies and a cup of coffee in front of me.

  Lyla Nell screams and cheers my way as Evie holds her by the counter. And sitting right next to them is Carlotta.

  “There are my girls.” I head over and land a kiss to Evie and Lyla Nell.

  “What about me, Sexy?” Carlotta quips. “Am I chopped liver?”

  I pull up Carlotta’s hand and kiss the back of it.

  “Woo wee!” Carlotta belts it out as if she were riding a bull at the rodeo. “No wonder Lot Lot spends so much time holed up with you in the bedroom. Even your innocent hen pecks are hotter than a grease fire. I can only imagine the inferno you bring underneath the sheets. It’s no wonder you have a history of setting houses aflame.”

  “Like eww?” Evie looks physically ill at the thought. “Unless we change the subject in three seconds flat, those muffins I just inhaled are going to land right back on the counter in a different form.”

  Lemon cringes a moment. “Fine, but you asked for it. What’s going on with the concert?”

  I nod to my look-alike in teenage girl skin. “Your mom and I can go up with you. We’ll stay at the lodge while you’re at the concert, and that way if your friends want to spend the night at the lodge, too, I’ll feel better about the whole thing.”

  Her mouth falls open as if I just threatened to enroll myself at Honey Hollow High.

  “Cray Cray”—she growls out the nickname she has for Carlotta—“hold me down before I hurt someone.”

  Carlotta chuckles. “Don’t worry, Evie Stevie. I had fuddy-duddy parents in my young days, too. They may have secured the gate, but I knew how to scale a wall. You’ll figure it out. When there’s a concert, there’s a way.”

  Evie gives a sly nod to Carlotta.

  Lemon shakes her head at me as if I shouldn’t have gone there, and Lyla Nell jumps in my arms and slaps her hands over my face while laughing hysterically as if she were trying to teach me
a lesson, too.

  “Dada! Dada!” she cries out as her forest green eyes look right at mine and her dimples dig in deep.

  My heart melts and I can’t help but curve my lips at her. I love this little girl—both of my girls more than I knew was possible, and with far more ferocity than I knew I was capable of. It’s the exact way I feel about their mother.

  “You tell him, Lyla Nell,” Evie says.

  “Okay.” I sigh. “We still have a few days to decide.”

  “It’s this Sunday, Dad,” Evie says. “All my friends are going. I have to go. It’s not my fault Bradford and all his friends will be there, too. This is the concert of the century. Everybody is going to be there. You don’t want me to hold this over your head forever, do you?”

  “Everett,” Lemon says my name softly as she bites down on her lip, and I can tell she feels bad for Evie.

  Heck, I do, too.

  “Don’t worry, Evie. It’ll all work out,” I tell her.

  But nothing had better not work out in Bradford’s favor or I might be forced to commit another felony. And this time, I won’t have Noah to blame.

  Speaking of the useless scapegoat, the bell on the door rings and in walks Noah himself.

  We offer up a collective greeting and he scoops Lyla Nell right out of my arms.

  “How’s it going?” Noah says as he lands at the counter next to me, and Lemon lands a plate of chocolate chip cookies and coffee in front of him with lightning agility.

  “Dada, Dada,” Lyla snips as if she were laying the brunt of her day on him and a warm laugh breaks out.

  “No fair.” Lemon wrinkles her nose. “She calls the two of you Dada, and it’s like she doesn’t even know who I am. I’m nothing but the scullery maid to her.”

  Evie laughs. “You’re the milk maid, Mom.”

  Carlotta nods. “She’s right. Lyla Nell hardly recognizes your face, Lot. And that’s because all you ever let her see is your boob. I bet she calls your boobs Mama all the time.”

  “Stop.” Lemon plops another blueberry muffin in front of Carlotta in an effort to silence her. “And it’s not true. Lyla Nell recognizes me, all right. She’s already called Charlie Mama a handful of times.” Her expression sours just thinking about it.