Cupcakes and Killers

by Laina Turner

  “You know he’s done some pretty terrible things, don’t you? He blew up a car and killed someone.”

  She shook her head. “Look, I know you have absolutely no reason to listen to me or believe anything I say, but I am telling the truth. I know he’s done bad things, and I’m not excusing that, but I don’t want him to die. I’d rather see him in jail. I’m not a fan of bringing innocent people into our crazy world. He should have never come back here. That’s the main reason we broke up.”

  “What do you mean by innocent people into your world?”

  “My father is who he used to work for. I don’t agree with the way my father lives either. But you can’t help who you fall in love with, and Stephen promised me he wanted to change. He wanted to leave the criminal life behind. As you can see, he hasn’t yet, and that’s why we’re no longer together. However, I still care about him, and as crazy as it might be, still hope he will someday realize this isn’t a way to live.”

  “Everything okay, Trixie?” I heard Sally holler out the window.

  “Everything’s fine. C’mon out here.” I figured, why should I have all the fun? Cora and Sally should be able to meet Rachel too.

  I made the introductions and gave them the twenty-second version of what we’d already discussed.

  “Your dad’s name doesn’t happen to be Lewis, does it?” Sally asked once we had caught her up to speed with the discussion.

  Rachel looked surprised. “Yes. How did you know?”

  “Did you know he was in town?” Sally said, and it dawned on me why her name sounded familiar.

  “He’s here? Wait a minute. You need to tell me why you think my dad is here.”

  “Because I saw him. He’s working some kind of land deal with our crooked mayor.”

  “That changes everything,” Rachel said, biting her thumbnail nervously. “Listen, is there somewhere more private we can go and talk?”

  “Sure. Why don’t we head back to the shop, and we can make some coffee?”

  Since our place was just a couple of blocks away, it made sense to head there. “I’ll ride with Rachel to show her the way.”

  Five minutes later, we were at the shop with a pot of coffee going. Jonathan sat outside in his car, just in case. I grabbed four mugs from the rack and poured us each a cup.

  “Sugar, cream, or flavors are over there. Help yourself,” I said to Rachel, handing her one of the mugs. I took my own to get two pumps of sugar-free vanilla, before walking over to one of the tables and taking a seat. The other three quickly followed suit.

  “I first want to say I appreciate you all giving me a chance and not just assuming I’m a terrible person myself.”

  “You’re welcome,” I said. Sally and Cora nodded their agreement. We didn’t have a reason not to trust her, and she didn’t seem like a bad person. She deserved the benefit of the doubt. Hopefully we wouldn’t regret it.

  “As I already mentioned, I don’t agree with the way they do business or their lifestyle. If my dad is here, then he must know Stephen is here. Whatever he is doing with your mayor is illegal. I can promise you that.”

  “So your father wouldn’t be here to buy land as an investment?” Sally asked.

  “It’s not likely. Land isn’t a normal investment for him, and even if it were, I couldn’t see him buying land in the Midwest. No offense.”

  “None taken,” Sally said, then turned to look at me and Cora. “See, I told you that deal made no sense.”

  “If he was here because he knew Stephen was in the area, what would he be doing with George?” I said.

  “He must think George can help him get to Stephen in some fashion,” Rachel replied.

  “How could George have any connection to Stephen?” I wondered out loud.

  “Do you think Lewis knows George is crooked and is hoping maybe he can help him get the money the cops took from Stephen, that Stephen originally stole from him?” Sally asked.

  “Could be,” said Rachel. “He’ll stop at nothing to get back what Stephen stole.”

  “Okay, Rachel, so what’s your plan? What do we need to do to get Stephen to leave us alone?”

  She leaned forward. “Here’s what I think we should do.”

  Chapter 13

  “Who’s that with Pete?” I asked Sally, as I could see Pete, from the bookshop window, walking across the street to his office with a cute, young blonde. Pete was Jack’s old partner in the law firm, though I think, technically, Jack was still a partner, just a silent one.

  “Macie Mitchell. She is Jack’s replacement in the law firm. She is distantly related to Bill, something like a third cousin removed. This is her first job out of law school, and I believe, if my intel is right, she moved here from Arizona.”

  “Sally, you never fail to impress me with how much you know. Did you guys talk about me like this when I first moved here?” Cora joked.

  “Of course we did,” replied Sally, while I nodded my agreement.

  “She’s cute,” I said.

  “In a Legally Blonde lawyer kind of way,” Sally added. “I did love Reese Witherspoon in that.”

  “We should invite her to join us for coffee or wine. Adding a lawyer to our group might come in handy these days,” I said, only partially joking.

  “I have to drop some papers off to Pete later today. I will extend an invitation, and we can see how well she fits with us,” said Sally. “It would be nice for us to welcome the new girl in town.”

  “You and Tom still hashing out details?” Cora asked.

  “Unfortunately, we’ve amassed a large amount of stuff that seems to need a million different signatures to divvy it all up,” Sally replied. “It’s mostly the legal formality at this point. The decisions on everything have been made. It’s just actually doing it to make things official.”

  “Are you still thinking about taking him back?” Cora asked.

  “That’s such a hard question. A part of me will always love him. We were together for twenty years and have two amazing children together. However, I’m not sure I could ever trust him, nor am I sure I could still love him. And while the presents and attention are nice, things like that can’t sustain a relationship.”

  “What about you, Trixie? Could you ever take your ex back?”

  “Never,” I said without hesitation. “And while I’m incredibly grateful I have Cody and wouldn’t change having him for anything, my relationship with his dad was doomed from the beginning. Never think you can change someone. You aren’t going to accomplish it, and you’ll both be miserable. Why all the relationship questions? You having cold feet?”

  “Not cold feet exactly, just, as this whole thing sinks in, I realize we’ll eventually be faced with difficulty. I mean, that’s going to happen in any relationship. It just makes me wonder how I’m supposed to make this work when so many people can’t.”

  “You can’t see the future, and you never know what’s going to happen, but if you love each other and are both committed to working things out, you will make it work,” I said.

  Sally nodded. “Exactly what she said. Every couple is different. I thought Tom and I would grow old together, but only time will tell. What I can say is you love Jonathan, and I know he loves you, and that’s the best start you can hope for.”

  “Thanks, guys.”

  “We’re so glad you made it out tonight. Sally said you weren’t sure if you’d have time,” I said, taking Macie’s coat and hanging it up for her. Sally had wasted no time asking Macie to hang out with us.

  “Lucky for me I had a late appointment that canceled. I’ve been booked solid doing meet-and-greets with all the clients I’ll be working with. It’s been a whirlwind of a week,” Macie said, taking the coffee Sally offered her and having a seat. “Pete told me you gals were a hoot.”

  “Pete said that, did he? I’m going to have to have a talk with him. Giving away our secrets like that,” Sally said, teasing.

  “Not to put you on the spot or anything, Macie, but you
need to give us your background, your life’s history, goals, and whatever else you feel we should know,” I said, trying to be funny but serious at the same time. We did want to know all about her.

  “Is this a job interview?” Macie said, and I think she was only half teasing. She probably thought we were crazy, which we were. A little.

  “Of sorts. Don’t worry. Trixie and Sally put me through the same drill when I moved here. They are picky about who they befriend.” Cora smiled.

  “We’re too old to spend months getting to know someone that we then find out we don’t like. So if we get all our cards out on the table now, we can cut to the chase,” Sally said. “We like to be efficient.”

  Macie shook her head and laughed. “Okay. That makes sense. I’m all for efficient. Let me see. My name is Macie R. Mitchell, the R stands for Raven, as my mom is an Edgar Allen Poe fan. I’m just glad she didn’t give me Raven as a first name. I’m from Mesa, Arizona. Went to the University of Michigan for my undergrad in creative writing and Cooley Law School in Lansing for my law degree. Pete is my mother’s husband’s cousin, so we are only related by marriage. I didn’t want to go back to Mesa, and I didn’t want to stay in Lansing, but I liked Michigan, so I ended up here. What else do you want to know?”

  “The most important thing, of course! Do you have a boyfriend?” Cora asked.

  “You’ll have to forgive our friend. She’s recently engaged and is all about love these days. Us two, well, we are a bit more cynical,” Sally said.

  “No boyfriend at the moment. Had one through law school, but in the end, he went his way, and I went mine. So if you know of any good prospects, send them my way.”

  “I don’t know about good prospects, but I have a list a mile long of all the ones to stay away from,” Cora said.

  Macie laughed. “I have one of those lists too.”

  “Where are you staying?” I asked.

  “I just rented an apartment right around the block from here, above the diner. It always smells faintly of grease, but the price makes it worth it. Those law school loans will be kicking in soon.”

  “What made you want to be a lawyer?” I asked.

  “I always thought the law was interesting, and while I got my undergrad degree in Creative Writing, I knew I needed a career that would make me money. I felt law would be fun.”

  “Creative writing? Does that mean you are a writer?” I asked.

  “Aspiring. Hence the need for a job to pay the bills until I get discovered as a novelist.”

  “What’s your specialty? In law, I mean?” Sally asked.

  “I focused on environmental law in school because it interested me the most. However, those jobs are few and far between. So I decided experience was experience, and so here I am. Although, Pete’s firm handles a little bit of everything, so I’m going to get some great legal experience working with him. Plus, it seems like a great little town. However, he did say you’ve been having your fair share of trouble lately.”

  “What did he tell you?” I said.

  “That you had someone die from a cupcake the other day, and someone else murdered a few months ago. He also said there were a few more mishaps he wasn’t really at liberty to mention.”

  “Good thing,” Sally said. “And they say women are gossips.”

  “We have definitely had our share of bad luck lately.” I frowned.

  “Anything I can help with?” Macie asked.

  I liked Macie upon initial impression, and it wasn’t like anything happening to us was a big secret. I looked over to Sally and Cora to get their agreement before filling Macie in on everything. They both nodded.

  “If you have time, we can provide some entertaining information.”

  “Sure, Trixie. I would love to hear your story.”

  It took me about twenty minutes to just give Macie the brief rundown, during which she was silent, except for a few “ohs” and “reallys.” It did sound somewhat crazy explaining it. I finished, and we all just sat there a few minutes. Finally, Macie spoke.

  “If I didn’t know better, I would think this was a made-up story. This town seems so, well, normal, for all of this to be happening,” she said, her arms getting animated on the word this.

  “I can agree with that sentiment. It does seem surreal, but it’s true,” I said.

  “So you don’t have any idea who killed Harvey?” Macie asked.

  “Not yet,” I replied.

  “And you don’t think that murder is connected in any way to Stephen?” she asked.

  “It’s doubtful. I mean, what would be the point? Harvey being dead would serve no purpose to Stephen. We can’t figure out what purpose it serves to anyone, which is the problem in finding who did this,” I replied.

  “And this Rachel person, you really think you can trust her?”

  “We think so. She seems genuine,” Sally said.

  “Wow,” Macie said softly. “And here I thought I might get bored here.”

  Chapter 14

  “I liked Macie. She’s young and seems smart, and I wouldn’t say that about most of the lawyers I know,” Sally said the next night, when the three of us were at my house doing some wedding planning.

  Cora and I laughed.

  “I agree. I liked her. I think she would be a great addition to our group,” I said.

  “Me too,” said Cora. “Now if only Rachel’s plan works so we can be free of Stephen and things can get back to normal.”

  “Tonight we aren’t talking or thinking about this crap going on with Stephen. It is all about Cora and wedding planning. So let’s have a toast,” I said, holding up my wineglass. “To Cora, love, and all that is wedding-related!”

  “Hear, hear!” said Sally, and the three of us clinked glasses.

  “Have you even started looking at dresses yet?” asked Sally.

  “What I want to know is, has she even set a date?” I asked. “Well, have you set a date?”

  “Yes, and yes!” Cora said.

  “You’ve set a date. Why haven’t we heard about it yet?” exclaimed Sally.

  “Jonathan and I just decided this afternoon. We had differences of opinion on when it should be, and it took a while to hash those out.”

  “I wouldn’t have thought he would care,” said Sally.

  “Well, stop keeping us in suspense. When’s the wedding?” I asked.

  “Three weeks from tomorrow,” Cora said. I could tell she was bracing herself for our reaction, and she was not disappointed. We were both surprised. Shocked, actually.

  “What?” Sally yelled. “I can’t lose twenty pounds in three weeks. Why the rush?”

  I looked at Cora, and she beamed. Something was going on here.

  “Why are you sitting there so calmly? She told us we have three weeks to plan a wedding, and you’re fine with that?” Sally asked me.

  “Are you pregnant?” I asked Cora, ignoring Sally for the moment.

  Cora nodded.

  “Oh my God! I am so happy for you.” I jumped up to give her a big hug. Sally followed.

  “Why are you just now telling us this news?” Sally asked, pretending to be mad.

  “I wasn’t keeping anything from you. I only found out myself Wednesday, and I went to the doctor yesterday to confirm. I needed to let the news sink in. Neither Jonathan nor I had planned on having kids, at least not this soon. It was a way-in-the-future kind of thing when we’d talked about it.”

  “How does he feel now he’s going to be a daddy in . . . how long?” I asked.

  “About eight months. I’m four to six weeks along. Once he got over the initial shock, he was elated. He’s already making plans for things he can do with the baby, and of course, he’s sure it will be a boy.”

  “Yep, most men are,” Sally said. “They think they get boys from wishful thinking.”

  “Okay, then we’ve got a lot of work to get done in a very short time,” I said.

  “I think I found a dress online that I like. It needs to be shipped
here and have alterations made. I also found bridesmaid dresses I think you two will love. Let me pull them up.” Cora took her iPad out of her purse and navigated to the page she had bookmarked with the dresses. “Here. What do you think?”

  I looked at the page, and then at Sally, and back to the iPad. Ugly was the first thing to come to mind. A deep vibrant purple color, it was a fitted mermaid style with a big bustle on the butt, puffy sleeves, and a small train. Guaranteed to make even a size two look fat—and neither Sally nor I were a size two.

  “Okay,” Sally said slowly, looking at me. Neither of us wanted to share our true feelings about the dress and hurt Cora’s feelings. We would wear whatever, but these were horrible.

  Cora laughed. “I’m just kidding. If only you could see the look on your faces. Those dresses are ugly. Here’s the real dress.” She slid her finger on the screen to a different page, and what we saw there was a million times better. It was dark chocolate in color, and a strapless number cut in a simple A-line, hitting just below the knee. Classic and elegant.

  I breathed a sigh of relief. “That’s much better.”

  “Our colors are ivory and chocolate. Perfect for a fall wedding, don’t you think?”

  “Absolutely gorgeous for a fall wedding. What would be even more gorgeous is if we had more than three weeks to plan it out,” Sally said.

  “I don’t see the rush nowadays. Being pregnant and unmarried isn’t that big of a deal. And it’s not like you’re fifteen or something.”

  “I know. It’s not about that, though I admit I’m a little old-fashioned in that way. But it’s more vanity. I don’t want to be a fat, pregnant bride, and neither of us wants to wait until after the baby is born. We decided having it soon would be the best course of action.”

  “Makes sense. So, stop complaining, Sally. We need to get to planning,” I said.

  Chapter 15

  I was on my way to Drake’s Bar, where Sally, Cora, Macie, and I were meeting Rachel. We decided adding someone else to this crazy mix couldn’t hurt. She was a lawyer, so maybe she would be an asset to helping us figure this out, or at least keep us out of legal trouble.