Sinister Cinnamon Buns

by J Lee Mitchell

  “What’s a matter, Q’Bita, cat got your tongue? Why don’t you come in for a drink? It’s the staff’s day off, and Red won’t be home for another couple of hours, so we’ll have the whole house to ourselves.”

  Alarm bells were going off in Q’Bita’s mind and she tried to pull free, but Cookie dug her nails in deeper until the pain made Q’Bita’s arm go numb.

  “Relax, Q’Bita. I thought you wanted to talk. There’s no reason to be so tense.”

  Cookie shoved Q’Bita through the door so hard she banged into a small hall table containing an enormous flower arrangement in a crystal vase.

  Once they were in the foyer Cookie loosened her grip, and Q’Bita wiggled free. She heard splashing water and the sound of something hitting the floor. She spun around just in time to see Cookie swinging the now empty crystal vase towards her.

  She tried to raise her arm to block the blow but wasn’t fast enough. The vase collided with the side of her head and everything went black. Her legs felt like noodles, and she collapsed to the floor. The last thing she remembered was the sound of a slamming door and a dead bolt being engaged.

  When she came back around, Q’Bita didn’t know how much time had passed. She was tied to a chair in the middle of a large room. Her feet and hands were bound, and she’d been gagged. Her head swam as she tried to look around for Cookie, and she fought the urge to retch.

  “Oh, good, look who’s finally awake.”

  Cookie’s voice was coming from somewhere behind her. Q’Bita heard a chair scrapping across the floor, and Cookie suddenly appeared in front of her. She placed the chair across from Q’Bita and sat down. In one hand she held Q’Bita’s cell phone, and in the other a huge butcher knife.

  “Ouch. That’s a pretty nasty bump you got there. How’re you feeling, Q’Bita? What’s that? Oh, silly me, you can’t talk with all that fabric stuffed in your mouth. Not to worry, I’ll talk, and you can just listen.

  “While you were napping I took the liberty of looking at your call logs and noticed you were smart enough to call Andy before coming here. He called back a few times and even texted to say he was on his way here. I hope you don’t mind but I didn’t want him to interrupt our girl time, so I texted him back and told him no one was home when you got here so you went back to the Inn. I even told him your battery was almost dead and asked him to meet you at home. See, I think of everything. Well, almost everything. I didn’t count on anyone connecting enough dots to tie me to this mess, but here you are, and now I’m going to have to improvise.”

  Q’Bita struggled against her bindings and managed to move her chair an inch or two away from Cookie.

  “Wiggle all you want, Q’Bita, but in case you didn’t notice, I’m the one with the big knife.”

  Cookie reached out and took a nick out of Q’Bita’s forearm with the tip of the knife, drawing blood.

  “Sorry, I just thought it might be a good idea to let you know the sight of blood doesn’t bother me. Especially someone else’s. Now, if you promise to be a good girl, I’ll remove the gag. Don’t bother screaming; no one will hear you. This room used to be a wine cellar. Except for those little half windows on the far wall, it’s below ground and well insulated.”

  Cookie raised the knife towards Q’Bita’s face, and Q’Bita tried to pull away.

  “Hold still. I’m not going to hurt you, at least not yet.”

  With a quick flick of her wrist Cookie sliced the fabric, and it fell away from Q’Bita’s face.

  “You can’t possibly think you’re going to get away with this. People know where I am.”

  Cookie threw her head back and laughed.

  “I hate to break it to you, Q’Bita, but this isn’t one of your parents’ pathetic books. You may think of yourself as the heroine but there’s no happy ending here for anyone but me. And for the record, you’d be surprised at what I’ve been able to get away with over the years.”

  “You killed Antonio, didn’t you?”

  “Very good. What gave me away?”

  “Earlier, on the porch, you knew Antonio had been shot to death. The manner of death hasn’t been made public yet.”

  “Dang, you are good. Since we’re having such a nice chat, I’m curious what else you’ve figured out.”

  “Well, you obviously weren’t trying to protect Hadleigh or you wouldn’t have given her the gun you used to kill Antonio, so I’m guessing you were trying to frame her for his murder.”

  “It’s too bad I’m going to have to get rid of you. You’d make a much better sheriff than Andy Hansen or Chance Holleran. Red’s wasting his money backing Chance.”

  “But Hadleigh is Red’s daughter. Why would you want to frame her?”

  “Okay. Apparently, you’re not that good or you’d realize the answer to your question is in the question itself.”

  Q’Bita’s head hurt, and she was more concerned with how to get loose than playing riddles with Cookie.

  “Oh, for God’s sake, Q’Bita, do I have to spell it out for you? Hadleigh wasn’t just another scam artist. She actually is Red’s daughter, which means she’s a legitimate heir.”

  Q’Bita’s phone dinged in Cookie’s hand, and Cookie looked down at the screen. Her lips moved, and an angry look spread across her face as she read the text. She stood up, looming over Q’Bita.

  “Well, now, this is unfortunate. Seems I wasn’t as convincing as I thought. Andy’s realized you’re not at the Inn and is worried you’re headed back here. He wants you to pull over and wait for him because my fingerprints turned up on a cinnamon bun recipe and he thinks I might be involved in both murders. Gosh, Q’Bita, you two are like a crime-fighting duo. When do you have time for sex?”

  As the weight of Cookie’s words pressed themselves into Q’Bita’s brain, a sudden and sickening realization began to form in her gut.

  “Oh, God, you killed Macie, too?”

  “Yes, I killed Macie. That insipid brat ruined my life from the minute she was conceived. Carlie Haskins was a whore and used the oldest trick in the book to snag Red’s money. Not that I didn’t do the same thing, mind you, but Red’s mother wasn’t about to have her son marry a piece of trash like me. I had to leave town and fend for myself while Carlie married Red and pretended they were the perfect little family.

  “Unfortunately, for Carlie, I got tired of waiting for their marriage to implode and took matters into my own hands. Now I’m Mrs. Red Dixon, and Carlie and Macie are no longer between me and Red’s money.”

  “You did this for money?”

  “Don’t look so shocked. People have killed for less.”

  Q’Bita knew she had to keep Cookie talking until she figured out how to get free or Andy got there. If Cookie was telling the truth, she’d just confessed to killing Macie and possibly having something to do with Macie’s mother’s death, as well. The only reason Cookie would feel secure enough to spill her secrets would be because she wasn’t planning on Q’Bita living long enough to tell anyone.

  “Are you saying Macie’s mother didn’t commit suicide?”

  “Give the girl a prize. Carlie Haskins may have had good breeding, but she was hardly a mental match for me. Once I found out she had postpartum depression, helping her end her suffering was almost too easy.

  “Of course, that left poor Red on his own to raise Macie, and he was only too happy to welcome me back into his life. I tried to like Macie at first, but she was as needy as her mother. Red spoiled her rotten and threw money at one thing after another, anything to make princess Macie happy.

  “I knew she’d depend on Red to pay her way for the rest of her life. You can’t imagine how much money we’ve sunk into this idiotic Macie Dixon Line crap. I wasn’t about to let her throw the whole thing away by giving those recipes back to Liddy Lou.”

  Cookie paced back and forth while she talked, then stopped directly in front of Q’Bita.

  Cookie’s facial expression had grown sour again. Q’Bita knew she was running out of time and needed
to make her move soon. Cookie cocked her head and looked at Q’Bita like she was just realizing something for the first time.

  “Ya know, everything would have worked out just fine if you hadn’t started snooping around Hadleigh. Why couldn’t you just leave well enough alone, Q’Bita?”

  Cookie drew the knife up and over her shoulder. Q’Bita could see the wild look in her eyes as Cookie lunged forward, closing the gap between them.

  The knife swung down, and Q’Bita made her move. Pushing as hard as she could with her feet, she felt the chair start to tip backwards.

  She shifted her weight, threw her shoulders against the back of the chair, and was relieved to feel the chair fall backwards.

  Cookie howled in pain as the front legs of the chair collided with her shins and she stumbled backwards. The heel of one of her stilettos snapped and she lost her balance.

  A few seconds later they both crashed to the floor. They lay still for a moment then Cookie started to stir.

  “You’re going to pay for that, you little bitch.”

  While Cookie was trying to get her feet under her, Q’Bita spotted the knife a few inches away. Cookie hadn’t seen it yet. Q’Bita rolled on to her side, which sent a ripple of pain through her left shoulder that almost made her faint.

  She glanced over her shoulder and saw Cookie was almost on her feet. Q’Bita tried to wiggle her way towards the knife but the chair wasn’t making it easy. From a few feet away, Cookie made a noise like a wounded coyote. Q’Bita could hear Cookie snarling as she moved towards her.

  “Now, let’s try this again shall we?”

  Cookie leaned forward and picked up the knife, then stooped down beside the chair.

  “Since you’re the chef, why don’t you tell me where I should start cutting such a big piece of meat?”

  Q’Bita’s whole body tensed as she felt the tip of the knife pierce the skin just below her shoulder and she tried to steel herself for what was coming next. But what came next wasn’t pain, it was the sound of car doors closing. It was a small sound, but Cookie had heard it, too. She swore, pulled back the knife, and stood up. Q’Bita heard another noise. It sounded like footsteps somewhere above them, coming closer.

  Q’Bita screamed as loud as she could, hoping Cookie was wrong about the room being completely soundproof.

  “Shut up, you stupid cow. I haven’t managed to kill you yet, and I don’t need someone else coming down here that I’ll have to kill. I’m running out of people to blame this shit on.”

  The footsteps were practically on top of them now, and Q’Bita screamed again.

  Cookie yanked the chair upright then grabbed Q’Bita by her hair.

  “If you don’t quit making noise I’m going to cut your tongue out and feed it to you.”

  A door opened and Q’Bita heard voices.

  “No, Mr. Dixon, you need to let me go first.”

  “Cookie? Cookie, are you down there?”

  Q’Bita recognized the first voice as Mike Collins and the other as Red Dixon.

  “Damn it, now look what you’ve done,” Cookie said as she pressed the knife against Q’Bita’s throat.

  A second later Red and Mike reached the bottom of the steps on the far side of the room.

  “Cookie, what are you doing?” Red cried.

  “Get back, both of you, or I’ll open her throat.”

  “Mrs. Dixon, I don’t want to hurt you so please let go of Miss Block and put the knife down.”

  Cookie made a snorting sound and Q’Bita could feel the blade of the knife take a small bite of her skin and a trickle of blood run down her neck.

  “What are you going to do, Mike, shoot me? We both know you don’t have the balls.”

  “With all due respect, Mrs. Dixon, you are incorrect. I’m going to count to three, and if you don’t lay the knife down I’m going to shoot.”

  Mike started to count, and Cookie tightened the grip on Q’Bita’s hair. Q’Bita was holding her breath as Mike spoke.

  “One, two… Come on, now, Mrs. Dixon. I’m serious.”

  Just as Mike was about to say three, Red lunged for him, knocking him to the ground.

  Cookie was distracted by their scuffle and loosened her grip on Q’Bita’s hair but kept the knife pressed against her neck.

  Out of the corner of her eye Q’Bita saw movement from just outside the small windows in the far wall.

  She saw a flash of orange, then heard breaking glass.

  A second later, Cookie released her grip on Q’Bita’s hair and the knife clattered to the floor. Cookie’s face was frozen in a look of shock as a pool of red spread across her chest, and she fell to the floor.

  Red scrambled to his feet and ran to Cookie. He knelt beside her and scooped her up in his arms.

  “Baby, why? Why?” Red cried.

  Q’Bita heard Andy’s voice from outside the broken window yelling for Mike.

  “Mike, help Q’Bita. I’m coming in.”

  Mike scrambled over to her and started to cut the bindings on her hands and feet. She could hear Andy running across the floor above them, then down the stairs.

  Red was still crying, and Cookie was mumbling something to him, but Q’Bita couldn’t make out the words.

  “Mike, I called EMS on my way here. Go up and meet them. Get them down here the second they pull in. Cookie doesn’t look good.”

  “Damn you, Hansen, you didn’t have to shoot her. She would have listened to me,” Red sobbed.

  Andy helped Q’Bita out of the chair. He wrapped her in his arms and hugged her so tight she could hardly breathe.

  “Baby, are you okay?”

  “I, I don’t know. Everything happened so fast.”

  Red was still sobbing uncontrollably, and Cookie had stopped making any noise. Andy picked up the chair and sat it near the bottom of the stairs.

  “Q’Bita, sit here for a minute. I need to secure the scene and take care of Red, then I’ll have Mike take you to the hospital to get those cuts looked at.”

  The next hour was a blur of EMS and crime scene people moving in and out of the room. EMS did the best they could, but Cookie was gone. At some point someone had placed a blanket over her shoulders, but Q’Bita was still too numb to feel warm or cold.

  “Miss Block, how are you doing? The boss man wants me to get you over to the county ER to get checked out. Can you stand okay or do you need help?”

  “Thank you, Mike, but I’m fine, really. I just want to go home and get a hot shower and see my family.”

  Mike turned and looked at Andy, who excused himself and made his way over to them.

  “Sweetheart, I know you’ve been through a lot today, but I need you to go with Mike. This is still an active investigation, and I need you to let the ER folks photograph and document all those injuries. After that you can head home, and I’ll be over as soon as I can, okay?”

  “Andy, Cookie admitted to killing Macie.”

  “Yes, I know. When we pulled Antonio’s truck up the bank we found a dash cam. The crime scene guys were able to pull audio and video. It captured Antonio asking Cookie for money to keep his mouth shut about her killing Macie. Cookie told him that he was the only one who knew what she’d done, and he wouldn’t be telling anyone, then she shot him.

  I’ll call Judge Tanner as soon as we’re done here and ask him to make the arrangements to have your nana’s plea deal resolved.”

  Andy reached in his pocket and handed a set of keys to Mike.

  “Here. When you take Q’Bita home you’ll need these to remove Liddy Lou’s tracker.”

  Q’Bita had never been so relieved. She slumped back in the chair as exhaustion washed over her, and she had to fight to stifle a yawn. Andy bent over and gave her a deep kiss, then told Mike it was time for them to go.

  Chapter 37

  It had been a week since Cookie’d tried to kill her, and things were starting to get back to normal. Q’Bita leaned back against the porch railing and took in the sight of all her loved ones g
athered around the picnic table destroying a low country crab boil.

  As usual, Evie and Rene were badgering each other about something, while Andy and her father discussed strategy for their next poker night. Evie’s husband, Putt, was wrestling a crab, and the crab was winning. Beecher and Jamie were guarding the shrimp from Rolfie, who’d already stolen at least a half dozen, but the sight that most made her heart swell with joy was her mother sitting quietly with one arm wrapped around her nana.

  The sound of a car approaching drew her attention. She walked down the stairs and greeted Hadleigh with a wave and a smile.

  “Thank you again for inviting me, Q’Bita. Are you sure your family is okay with me being here?”

  “Hadleigh, nothing that happened was your fault, and without your help I doubt the truth would have come out in time to keep my nana from going to jail.”

  “That’s nice of you to say, Q’Bita, but I still can’t help thinking if I wouldn’t have come looking for my parents none of this would have happened.”

  “Oh, Hadleigh, please don’t think that way. Cookie wasn’t well, and she set this chain of events in motion years ago, when she killed Macie’s mother.”

  Hadleigh looked down at the ground, avoiding eye contact with Q’Bita.

  “I guess you’re right. I’m not sure what was a bigger shock for Red—finding out Cookie killed his first wife and daughter or that she’d hid my existence from him all these years.”

  Q’Bita felt uncomfortably stupid and wasn’t sure what to say.

  “I’m sorry, Hadleigh. Andy told me that just before she passed, Cookie told Red she’s your mother. That must have been quite a shock for both of you.”

  “Yes, it was.”

  “How is your father doing?”

  “Okay, I guess. We haven’t talked much since the services for Cookie. I’m meeting with his lawyers next week to finalize the paperwork giving me control of the Macie Dixon Line, but I don’t think he’s gonna be there.”

  “Beecher told me you’re planning on keeping the business going. He and Rene are so looking forward to working with you.”