Desserts and Death

by Harper Lin

  Desserts and Death

  A Pink Cupcake Mystery Book 6

  Harper Lin

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  * * *

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, organizations, places, events, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

  DESSERTS AND DEATH

  Copyright © 2018 by Harper Lin.

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the author.

  www.harperlin.com

  Contents

  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

  Recipe 1: Vanilla Cherry Cupcakes

  Recipe 2: Green Tea Cupcakes

  About the Author

  A Note From Harper

  Excerpt from “Bake Sale for Murder”

  Chapter One

  “I can’t believe I can’t keep up with these receipts.” Lila Bergman huffed, blowing a flaming-red curl of hair away from her face. “No disrespect, Amelia, but I never expected this little food truck to become so busy.”

  Amelia beamed and nodded as she pulled another batch of cinnamon-apple cupcakes out of the oven and set it on the counter behind the service window. The Pink Cupcake food truck had turned out to be a slice of heaven for her.

  “Can you take a break from that and help me get the crumbles on the tops of these while I start the next batch?” she asked Lila. “I hate to admit that I thought the same thing when we first started.”

  Lila stood, grabbed the container of crumbles, and began to add the sugary topping to the steaming-hot cupcakes.

  “Has John ever said good job or anything to you?”

  Amelia’s face wrinkled at the mention of her ex-husband.

  “He still has issues with it. Can you believe that?” Amelia set the timer and planted one hand on her hip while she wiped her brow with the other. “To him, it’s still just an offensive hot-pink truck that I bake out of. He has no idea how much money I’m putting into the business or how much I’m making, and even if he did, he’d find something wrong with it.”

  Lila shook her head.

  “But thankfully, the wedding planning and honeymoon have occupied his mind enough that he’s stayed out of my business for several glorious weeks.”

  “When is he due back?” Lila asked while setting the cinnamon-apple cupcakes on the rack for customers to see. “This batch of cupcakes smells just like apples off the tree. Did you know that? It makes the whole truck smell so good. I think these are my favorite when it comes to smells.”

  “He’s back in another week.” Amelia washed her hands in the sink and wiped some of the water on her face to cool off. Her cheeks were red from the ovens, which had been running hot since six in the morning. “It’s been as much of a vacation for me without having him calling every couple of days to complain about one thing or another.”

  “Has he ever asked to see the books?” Lila asked.

  “He’s never come outright and asked, but I can tell it’s driving him crazy to know. It’s funny because I think he thinks I don’t remember living with him for all those years.” Amelia chuckled. “Attorneys don’t come right out and ask anything. They hint around the topic and get you to say what they want without you realizing it.”

  “Sheesh. It’s like being married to a Svengali.”

  “That’s right.” Amelia chuckled again. “So he makes comments like I probably don’t have money to pay the property taxes, or he asks how much he’ll have to kick in for the kids’ year of school, hoping I’ll complain I have no money. I know that’s what he’s hoping. He used to talk that way about opposing councils and clients he was representing. He’s forgotten I learned his tactics a long time ago. Frankly, my life now is none of his business.”

  “Well, I think he’d be kicking himself if he saw those receipts. You are really turning a profit.”

  “Yeah, well, I don’t have the tuition for Yale and Harvard for the kids socked away yet, so to me it’s still a long row to hoe.”

  “How are the kids handling their new, ahem, stepmom?”

  Amelia laughed outright as she watched Lila’s face contort as if she’d just eaten a lemon.

  “You know the kids. They aren’t babies anymore, and they aren’t stupid. If Jennifer is nice to them, they will be nice back. I’ve told them that she’s their father’s wife now.”

  “And they’re good with that?” Lila prodded. “They know there is no chance of Mom and Dad getting back together?”

  “I think they knew that a long time ago, Lila. Now I just want them to be decent stepchildren. It would break my heart if I ever found out that Jennifer was saying they were obnoxious or disrespectful or nasty. Of course, the urge might be there. Heck, I feel like telling the princess to take a long walk off a short pier constantly. But I’ve talked with the kids, and they want smooth sailing as much as I do. As much as John does, too.”

  “You’re lucky. Not all families have enough common sense to make things easy on themselves. I have to say I am glad that Jacob and I never had children for this specific reason. The babies are so innocent.”

  “That they are. Have you heard anything from Jacob lately?”

  “Oh, yes,” Lila gushed. “He made a lovely deposit in my bank account this very month. Looks like the ponies paid off extra dividends.”

  “He was a gambler?”

  “Yes. He was actually quite good at it. But when you don’t have to worry about losing ten thousand dollars at the track, it sort of takes the edge off.”

  “What?” Amelia barked. “He lost ten thousand dollars at the horse track? Are you kidding me?”

  Lila laughed and waved her hand in front of her face as she usually did when something was no big deal to her.

  “I don’t think he ever lost that much. He’s lost a few times, but like I said, he had a real talent. When he won big, he usually came home with a bottle of champagne. That’s how I’d know. Of course, in retrospect, he usually left with a bottle, too. I should have known where he was going.” She laughed. “Oh, isn’t youth wasted on the young? If I knew then what I know now, I would have never worried about Jacob. ”

  “That it is.” Amelia stretched her back and went to the service window. Then she noticed the top of someone’s head. Amelia saw a daddy, and as she looked to where the giggles were coming from, she saw he was accompanied by twin boys. The little guys couldn’t have been more than five or six years old.

  “Can I get two of your PB and J cupcakes, please?” the man asked while pulling out his money.

  “Is it boys’ day out?” Amelia asked cheerfully.

  “Yeah. It’s Mommy’s birthday, so she gets to sleep in and then go do some shopping alone.” The man chuckled.

  “Well, in that case, PB and Js are on us.” She handed the man two huge peanut butter and jelly cupcakes in a hot-pink paper boat with an extra couple of napkins.

  “That’s really kind of you.”

  “Don’t mention it.”

  “Hey, you wouldn’t happen to have a healthy cupcake back there? You know, something that used soy milk or applesauce or something.” The man wrinkled his nose. “She’s trying to lose weight. Not that she needs to, but it would be a nice surprise.”

&
nbsp; “Gosh, you know, we don’t, but that is a really good idea.” Amelia looked at Lila, who winked her approval.

  “Well, I’m sure we’ll be back,” the man replied. “Thanks again.” He handed the cupcakes to his sons, and both Amelia and Lila watched him walk both of them to a picnic table to eat.

  “How sweet.” Lila folded her arms over her chest. “And what a good idea.”

  “Right?” Amelia exclaimed, her eyes wide with excitement. “Different ingredients, same sweetness. I love it!”

  “Can you do it?” Lila’s voice hinted at more of a challenge than a question. She knew if anyone could make a healthy cupcake taste good, it would be Amelia.

  “We can do it. Totally. We can do it.” Amelia grabbed a small notebook from her purse and began to scribble down ideas. “I think keeping it simple at first will be our best bet, and let’s stay away from carrot or zucchini because those are done to death.”

  “Yes. I agree. How about a green tea flavor?” Lila suggested. “I just had some green tea ice cream when I went out for Chinese food yesterday, and it was very good.”

  “That sounds perfect.”

  “What happened to you?” Lila cried out suddenly.

  Amelia looked up to see Lila looking past her out the service window. She turned to look and gasped.

  “Goodness! Dan!”

  Chapter Two

  Detective Dan Walishovski stood looking up at Amelia with a bandage on his forehead and his arm in a sling.

  Amelia dashed out of the back door of the truck and rushed to Dan’s side. It could be hard dating a detective, as it wasn’t Mayberry they lived in, where everyone knew everyone and the worst the police had to deal with was the town drunk taking up space in one of the two holding cells that were normally used for their weekly poker game. This was Gary, Oregon, where murders and crime were surprisingly common.

  “What happened to you?” Amelia exclaimed. “Is this why you couldn’t come by last night? Why didn’t you tell me? Does it hurt? What happened?”

  “If you’ll slow down and just take a breath, I’ll explain everything,” Dan said. His eyes were a bright blue. As Amelia looked up into them, she saw the familiar twinkle that assured her he had a story to tell.

  “Uh-oh.” Amelia stood back. “This looks like it’s going to be quite a tale. Want to come up and sit?”

  “Don’t mind if I do. Lila, you got any coffee up there?”

  “For you, Detective, I sure do.”

  Amelia climbed back up into the truck and pulled a stool out for Dan to sit by the door, where a cool breeze was some relief from the heat of the ovens.

  “Smells good in here,” Dan observed as he took a paper cup full of coffee from Lila. “What are you two ladies cooking up in here?”

  “Cinnamon-apple crumbles. Here, eat one. Lila came up with a great idea for a new healthier version of a cupcake for our health-conscious friends.”

  “Oh, I’ll be diving into those.” Dan patted his stomach. “But until then...” He happily accepted the cupcake, taking a bite and chewing slowly.

  “Okay, I appreciate your enjoying the cupcake, but are you going to tell me what happened, or do I have to guess?” Amelia urged.

  “Let me guess,” Lila interrupted. “There was a fight between a couple of fourth graders at the school, and you got caught breaking it up.”

  “No. No. Not fourth graders. A couple of rowdy seniors at the center over a bingo dispute.” Amelia chuckled.

  “Two middle-aged women were fighting over the latest Disney-themed bed set, and you were on the losing team.”

  “You ladies are hilarious,” Dan said as he took a sip of coffee. “But the truth isn’t that far off. You just aren’t going to believe this.”

  The Gary Police Department, like every other police department in the country, had come to recognize certain addresses, phone numbers, and individuals when those calls came through the dispatcher. Some were like clockwork. Every Friday night around one o’clock in the morning, there was a call from Pat’s Pub that there were a couple of guys fighting in the parking lot. A couple times a month, the neighbors around 4201 Christine Way called to report the residents were fighting again. The casino on the outskirts of town had half a dozen calls a week to report drunk-and-disorderly conduct.

  But a call from Bud Fetzer was different. Dan explained to Amelia and Lila that Bud was a very interesting fellow.

  “I doubt he’s thirty years old,” Dan reported. “He lives alone, has no record, has some kind of computer gig that he does out of his house. UFO conspiracies. JFK cover-up. Some nonsense about the earth being hollow.”

  “That’s his job? UFOs?” Lila inquired.

  “Yup. He’s got quite a following, from what I hear. But to hear him tell it, he’s public enemy number one for what he calls anti-truth individuals. That was what he was calling about. As usual.”

  Dan went on to tell Amelia and Lila that once every two or three months, they’d get a call to stop by the Fetzer place. It was a simple ranch house on a pristine piece of land that was left to Bud by his late parents. Mr. and Mrs. Fetzer had invested wisely over the years. They only had one son. So when they passed on, they had made sure their pride and joy was taken care of.

  “What?” Amelia stifled a laugh. “Did he do this to you?”

  “Not quite.” Dan rolled his eyes.

  Dan went on to explain the call that he received from dispatch. A squad car had already shown up at the Fetzer property in response to Bud’s call saying there was a suspicious truck with two suspicious individuals lurking around his property.

  “The uniforms said they checked everything out, and there were tire tracks and footprints but nothing that would lead them to believe that it was anything more than just a truck that stopped on the side of the road.” Dan took another sip from his coffee. “But Bud wasn’t satisfied with that. He needed me out there. Requested me by name. Said he and I had an understanding.”

  Amelia watched Dan roll his eyes and started to giggle.

  “Did you?”

  “Not quite. Bud had come to the station a couple times, complaining about people on his property and hearing low-frequency radio sounds in his house. I got the assignment to check out his property and found absolutely nothing of substance. But I talked with Bud, and for all intents and purposes, he was a real nice guy,” Dan admitted while gently tapping the bandage on his forehead. “When I knocked on his door and announced who I was, the camera he installed at his front door came loose just as I was looking up into it. That’s what caused this.”

  “What happened to your arm?” Amelia asked, fretting.

  “After getting hit on the head, I lost my balance and fell off his porch, dislocating my shoulder and spraining my wrist.”

  Lila didn’t stifle her laughter.

  “Well, did you find anything at his house that little green men were planning an attack or something?” Amelia asked playfully.

  “No,” he replied sourly. “If that were the case, at least I would have gotten hurt for a reason. Now I gotta hear the guys at the station ribbing me about being abducted and possibly probed.”

  Amelia and Lila couldn’t help but burst out laughing.

  “We don’t mean to laugh at you,” Amelia said between bursts of giggles.

  “She doesn’t. I do,” Lila teased as she refilled Dan’s coffee.

  “You’re all about that tough love, aren’t you, Lila?” Dan snickered back.

  “I think you should head on over to my house,” Amelia suggested. “I’ve got beef stew in the crockpot already cooking. Plus, Lila came up with a genius new idea for a cupcake, and I’ll need tasters. What do you say?”

  “I say that sounds pretty good.” Dan gave Amelia a cool grin. “I’ve got to go to the station and wrap up some paperwork. I’ll meet you at your place after you close up shop.”

  “That sounds fine.”

  By the time Amelia closed up the Pink Cupcake and drove home, she was exhausted. The id
ea of hiring on additional help was looking better and better all the time. She was happy to see Dan’s sedan parked in front of the house. He was just getting out of the car.

  “Have you been waiting long?” Amelia asked as she parked her business in her driveway.

  “Nope. Just got here a second ago. Turns out that Bud Fetzer wanted to speak with me at the station.”

  “Really? I’m intrigued.”

  “He swears there are people watching his house.”

  Amelia bit her lower lip.

  “Do you think there is any truth to what he’s saying?”

  Dan shrugged, wincing as he rubbed his arm.

  “I don’t know. But to tell you the truth, tonight I don’t want to talk about work or Bud or conspiracies. I’d give all the tea in China just to hear Meg’s latest school gossip or Adam’s most recent computer project.”

  “Have you been drinking?” Amelia teased. “That’s hardcore.”

  “No. But I think I might start.”

  Once they were in the house, Dan got his wish. Amelia drank a bottle of beer with him.

  “Katherine told me that she has an aunt that is totally convinced that there are lizard people in the government,” Meg piped up over her bowl of stew. “She says they are part of the Illuminati.”

  “I don’t know about lizards. Snakes would be more like it,” Amelia said to Dan as she filled his bowl with stew.

  “The Illuminati. That’s crazy.” Adam sniggered.

  “She also said that her aunt saw a UFO. Just a tiny little weird white thing in the sky that changed direction super fast. I don’t know if it’s true. I never met this aunt.”

  “You never will. They only allow family to visit people in the booby-hatch,” Adam continued.