Margot Durand Cozy Mystery Boxed Set: Books 4 - 6

by Danielle Collins

  “That was pretty amazing what you did,” Adam said, smiling at her. They had stepped away to give Bentley, Melinda, and Sean time to catch up.

  “After I told Sean about his sister, I was able to connect them and then…well, I just asked. I mean, I knew it couldn’t hurt. She said she’d thought often about Bentley through the years and I was more than happy to bring them together.”

  “You’ve got an eye for details like that.”

  “Thank you, but—” The sound of the ringing phone drew her attention and she excused herself to rush to the backroom.

  Rosie held out the cordless landline and Margot slipped out the backdoor to gain some privacy for the call. “Hello?”

  “Dexter?”

  “Hey, Margot.” He sounded different, far away.

  “What’s up? Are you all right? Where are you?” He’d been gone for almost two weeks now and she missed him around the shop every day. It wasn’t just his help that she missed though, she missed him as her friend.

  “It’s a long story, but it’s looking like my two weeks will turn into another two, if no more.”

  “Dexter, are you sure you’re all right?”

  “Yes,” he said, chuckling. “I’m in very good hands doing things that I’m pretty good at. It’s not baking, but it’s almost as fun.” She tried to decipher what he meant, but he kept going. “I just wanted to call and see how it all worked out with that guy you had me dig up the information on.”

  She filled him in on the rest of the story, laughing at his shock and assuaging his fears about their safety.

  “Wow, for a quiet town, you sure know how to find the danger.”

  “Don’t you start on me too,” she said with a laugh. “Rosie already gives me a hard time for ‘puttin’ my nose where it don’t belong’.”

  “Margot…” Dexter’s voice grew serious and her smile slipped.

  “Yeah, Dex?”

  “Two things.”

  “All right?” For some reason, she felt her stomach clench at his words.

  “One—you called me Dex!”

  She laughed. “I guess Adam is rubbing off on me.”

  “I like it. But the second thing is this—” He cleared his throat as if nervous. “—you have an uncanny ability to get into sticky situations, I get that, but what you do when you’re there is nothing short of amazing. You have a natural talent—the gut, I think they call it—and the gumption to go with it. I hope that you see what you’re doing, that it’s a good thing and it’s helping others. Don’t let anyone tell you that you shouldn’t do what you’re passionate about, whether it’s baking or catching killers.”

  Margot blinked, warm tears coming to her eyes at his kind words. “Why, Dex, I didn’t know you had it in you.”

  He laughed. “What’s that?”

  “To be so…mature.”

  “Ouch.”

  “Oh, you know what I mean.”

  “I do. You know a bit about my background and, I hope you don't mind me saying this, but I kind of think of you like a sister and I just want you to know I'm proud of you…as silly as that sounds.”

  “It doesn’t sound silly.” She took in a deep, calming breath, knowing that she felt the same way about her employee and friend.

  “You promise you’ll tell me if you’re in trouble.”

  “Yes, ma’am. For now, just know that I will be back.” He said it in a way that imitated The Terminator and she laughed.

  “You’d better be.”

  The door to the bakery opened and Adam stepped out, looking concerned. “Everything all right?” he whispered.

  “Yes,” she said.

  “That Adam?” Dexter asked.

  “How did you know?”

  “I can hear his fake whisper from miles away. Tell him I said hi and I’ll let you get back to whatever it is you’re doing. Thanks again, Margot.”

  “You’re welcome, Dex. Be safe.” The line disconnected and she slowly dropped her hand.

  “Margot?” Adam said, coming up next to her.

  “I’m all right,” she said, wiping away tears from under her eyes.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked, coming to place both hands on her arms and angling her toward him.

  “Dexter just said some of the sweetest things to me. I guess it just…got me.”

  Adam’s grin widened. “He’s not trying to steal my girl, is he?”

  She laughed, shaking her head. “No. He’s like the little brother I never had.”

  “I’m glad to hear it. He’s a really great guy.”

  She took in a stuttering breath, then met Adam’s gaze. “Will you promise me that he’s safe?”

  “Look, as far as I know, he’s very safe.”

  “So you do know where he is?”

  Adam cringed. “I know some of what he’s up to.”

  “But you can’t tell me?”

  Now Adam looked away. Here they were, right back at the same conversation they’d been having time and time again. Why was it so hard for him to open up to her?

  “For a police detective, you sure do have a lot of secrets.”

  He met her gaze again, but this time, there was something hidden behind his eyes. A look she couldn’t place. “I’m sorry, Margot. I know I keep saying it. I keep hinting that I will tell you and I keep not being able to fulfill that promise, but I want you to know it’s not about you and if it were up to me, I would share everything with you.”

  “But it’s not up to you.” It was a statement, not a question.

  He shook his head once.

  Margot thought back to life with Julian. She’d loved her husband so much and he had been in a similar position. Then again, he’d never been this secretive, except—

  She gasped.

  “Margot, what is it?”

  “I just made a connection.”

  “What connection?” He leaned closer, concern etched on his handsome face.

  “I…” She faltered. It was one thing to realize something of a very personal nature and another to share it out loud with someone. Even someone you cared about. Could she share this with Adam?

  But the moment the question entered her mind, she knew the answer. Yes, she could share anything with Adam. Even though he didn’t seem to be completely up front with her about all things, he always told her the truth about what mattered. About what affected them. He was even more honest with her about case things than he should be, so the fact that he was keeping the secrets he was should cue her in to their importance.

  “I just realized why I think I’m having such a hard time with…well, all of this.”

  “Go on,” he urged gently.

  “It was the year before Julian’s death that things changed between us.” Her eyes misted over with the memory. “He had never been secretive with me before. He probably told me things he shouldn’t have, in all honesty. But that last year, I noticed a difference. Not in the way he cared for me—he loved me to the very end and I knew that—but in how he spoke with me. We talked much less about his work and more about how the bakery was doing or other things in life. I suppose…” She flushed, embarrassed to admit this to the man in front of her. “I suppose I was remembering that feeling and connecting it with his actions. I know that’s foolish, but—”

  “It’s not, Margot.”

  She looked up, hope in her eyes. “No?”

  “No, sweetie.” He slid his hand up, his fingers grazing her neck and his thumb wiping away the tears from her cheek. “I hate not being able to be completely honest with you and it makes total sense that you would associate that with your husband’s death.” He shook his head and swallowed. “I knew and loved Julian too and he was a lot more introspective that last year. I remember it. And I’m sorry that it feels that way to you. Believe me, the moment I can share—if I can—I will.”

  She gazed into his hazel eyes, the green pronounced against the green of the trees behind him. He looked at her with such care and compassion that she knew her sill
y doubts were that—foolish and unfounded. She had let her own memories as well as unfair demands cloud the reality that she cared very deeply for Adam Eastwood and, no matter what he could or couldn’t tell her, she wasn’t going to let that keep them apart.

  “Thank you, Adam.”

  He dropped his forehead to hers. “You know I’m always here for you.”

  “I do,” she said, slipping her hand down and taking his. “Now let’s go interrupt this reunion and see if we can’t get some good stories about Bentley as a scrawny scuba instructor out of Sean and Melinda.

  “Deal.”

  They went back inside to the sounds of laughter and the smells of sweets and baked goods. Sean, Melinda, and Bentley all sat at the table, laughing and talking as if no time had passed. Margot noticed Melinda’s close proximity to Bentley and wondered just what she had restarted by bringing them all back together.

  “Mind if we join you?” Margot asked, stepping up to the table with her hand still wrapped solidly around Adam’s.

  “Please do,” Bentley said, waving them forward.

  They sat down and Margot took in the bright faces and good humor that practically dripped in the air. “Are you all having a good time?”

  “The best,” Melinda said, leaning forward and resting her hand on Bentley’s for a moment. “You’d think it had just been yesterday that we were all working at King’s Scuba.”

  “Thanks again,” Sean said, holding Margot’s gaze. “What you did—finding Mel—it was just what I needed.”

  “Just what we needed,” she added with a smile to her brother.

  Margot felt the warmth of friends surround her and was thankful that, despite the circumstances, something good could come of all of this.

  “Since I have you to thank for all of this,” Bentley said, giving her one of his special, fatherly smiles, “the treats are on me.”

  Everyone laughed as Margot shook her head and rolled her eyes. “Don’t let him fool you, he’ll get out of paying for it, just you watch. Besides—” She looked to Sean and Melinda, then to Bentley and Adam, feeling the pressure of happy tears again. “—at The Parisian Pâtisserie, guests eat for free.”

  Vacations and Violence

  Chapter 1

  Margot felt the warmth of sunshine on her face and the stiff breeze washing in over the Blue Ridge Mountains. She felt peaceful and happy. Rested in a way she hadn’t been over the last few weeks while getting the bakery ready for the long weekend with her friend Celia Baxter, or CeCe as most people called her.

  “There you are,” CeCe called out, coming up the trail. “I thought I saw you arrive, but then you disappeared.”

  “It’s just so peaceful up here,” Margot said, grinning. “I was early and I thought you’d be busy.”

  “Not for you, dear friend,” she said, wrapping Margot in a big hug. “I’m so glad you could make it.”

  “I’m happy to be here. I mean, have you seen this view?” she joked, knowing full well her friend got to see this view every day.

  CeCe grinned and nodded. “Why do you think I took the job up here?”

  “Honestly?” Margot said, turning toward her friend, “I don’t know. Why did you come up here?”

  CeCe looked taken aback by Margot’s sharp honesty, but soon her features softened. “Oh Marg, you always could see past everything to the heart of the matter.”

  Margot took a seat on the log bench that gave a perfect view of the valley of blue-green mountains below them. CeCe sat down next to her, folding her hands in her lap.

  “The desire for something new started when Rick and I split up.”

  “That was, what, two years ago now?”

  “Three.”

  “Time certainly does go by quickly.”

  “And sometimes not quickly enough.”

  The hint of weariness in her friend’s voice caused her to peer at her. Margot had first met CeCe when they took a baking class together years ago. CeCe was already a chef but had wanted to round out her career with a few extra pastry and baking classes. They’d become fast friends and had kept in touch ever since.

  “But you started working here a year ago, wasn’t it?” Margot asked, trying to move her friend out of the memories that possessed her.

  “Yes.” She nodded and looked out at the incredible view of the early morning. “Stan and Lela came up to me one night at The Vault—”

  “That’s where you were working as a sous chef, right?” Margot clarified.

  “Yes. I was in D.C. then and working my tail off.” She laughed, shaking her head. “Actually, the truth of it was that I was in charge that night. The head chef had called in sick—something he never did—and I was left in charge. And you know what? For once, I took a risk, Margot. I changed up the special and it worked; Stan and Lela loved my dish and requested to speak with the chef. Since I was the only one available, they got me.”

  “And that’s when they offered you this position?”

  She nodded, entwining her fingers in her lap. “Silly, really, to think that I could come up here and things would change.”

  “What do you mean? What happened?”

  She bit her lip as she looked at Margot. “I didn’t tell you before you came—and now I’m thinking that was a mistake—but I’ve been hearing things about you and all that you’ve done and—”

  “Slow down, friend,” Margot said, reaching out to place her hand over her friend’s clenched fingers. “What’s going on? What haven’t you told me?”

  “I…” She looked away and Margot thought she detected a trace of fear on CeCe’s features. “Back in D.C., I was being stalked.”

  “You never said anything,” Margot said, the shock of the news rushing at her. “Why? Why didn’t you tell me? I don’t live that far away.”

  “You were still in a rough spot. It was two years after Julian had died and...I didn’t want to burden you.”

  “You can tell me anything at any time. That’s what friends are for!”

  “That’s just it, there was nothing to tell. I mean, I wasn't sure, but I thought it was Rick. Strange notes, a shadow following me, things like that. I wasn’t sure until one of the notes had a phrase he always used when talking with me. When Stan and Lela offered me the job, I jumped at it. A chance to leave D.C.? Absolutely!”

  “Is that why you changed your name when you moved up here?”

  She nodded. “I thought if I went back to my maiden name and stayed out of the press, I’d be safe.”

  “So, what’s changed?” Margot said, guessing that something had happened recently by the look on her friend’s face as well as her timely invitation for the weekend getaway.

  “I got a n-note,” she said, her voice breaking.

  Margot was immediately on alert. “Was it mailed?”

  CeCe shook her head. “It was…” She took a deep breath. “It was sitting on my pillow when I came back from work last week. Margot, I’m terrified. I mean, this is the best job I’ve ever had and I love it up here, but I'm afraid I’m going to have to disappear again.”

  “Do you really think it’s from Rick?”

  With her lips pressed together, CeCe nodded. “It’s his same scratchy handwriting and addressed to—” She broke off, tears falling down her cheeks.

  “Oh, CeCe,” Margot said, wrapping her arm around her friend. “It’s going to be all right.”

  CeCe shook her head. “But it’s not, Margot. Can’t you see? It’s Rick. I just know that it’s him and he’s tormenting me. I-I don’t know what lengths he’d go to…” She was arrested by another sob, but Margot’s mind tried to fill in the blanks.

  Could it really be that her abusive ex-husband had found her up here? If so, how?

  “Hush now, it could be someone playing a bad prank on you,” she offered, though she knew it was a weak explanation.

  “But, Margot, it’s Rick. It has to be. It’s addressed to CeCe Bear.”

  Margot felt her stomach clench. She’d known CeCe back wh
en she’d been married to Rick and he had always called her that. Was it possible? Had he come up here to stalk her? And why not just have a conversation with her? Talk to her about getting back together—assuming that was his end goal.

  As her mind flooded with thoughts and possible explanations, CeCe pulled back and wiped under her eyes. “I’m sorry. I should have told you all of this before, but…I wasn’t sure who I could turn to and I didn’t know if you’d come if…”

  “CeCe,” Margot said, shock lacing her words. “I will always be there for you. I hope you know that.”

  “I do,” she said, gripping Margot’s hand. “And, whether it was right or wrong, that’s why I asked you up here.”

  Margot frowned. “What do you mean?”

  “Don’t you see? You’re the only one who can solve the mystery of how Rick is doing this and how he found me.”

  Despite the fact that her friend had brought her to the Blue Ridge Mountain Resort under slightly false pretenses, Margot was determined to help her. She could understand CeCe’s fear, but there had to be a logical explanation behind all of this and Margot was determined to figure out what that explanation was.

  When CeCe had finally glanced at her watch, she’d nearly fainted, saying she was already late for dinner prep. Promising to fill Margot in on the rest of the strange happenings that had started last week on the anniversary of her marriage to Rick, she rushed down to the lodge and left Margot to check in at the front desk.

  Apparently, after CeCe had explained who Margot was to Stan and Lela, the red carpet had been rolled out for her. She was to enjoy benefits of the highest level of guest as well as full access to the grounds, various actives like horseback riding, canoeing on the lake, and even rock-climbing.

  Over the time CeCe had been working at the resort, Margot had received many emails from her about how amazing Stan and Lela were to her, almost like second parents, and it seemed they felt that affection for any guest CeCe would have.

  A young staff member, tall and handsome, greeted her at the check-in desk. “You must be Missus Durand,” he said with an overly wide smile. “Welcome to the Blue Ridge Mountain Resort.”