“My son, the entrepreneur. I couldn’t be more proud,” says Peter Hill, Jeremy’s father. The efficacy of the diapers has yet to be tested as of the date of this article. Updates to follow.
But there weren’t any updates. Did that mean the diapers still hadn’t been tested?
“I think he’s our guy,” Amy said and tapped the screen. “Remember how shifty he was when we interviewed him? Couldn’t have acted more guilty.”
“I don’t know,” Heather replied. “Something’s missing. I don’t know whether it’s evidence or something else, but I need to speak to Ryan about this before we jump to any conclusions.”
“Whatever you say, hon, you’re the sleuth,” Amy replied. “Are we done now? Let’s make those donuts. I’m starving.”
“Ever the healthy eater.” Heather clapped her bestie on the back, then led the way down to the kitchen, her mind ablaze with possibilities.
Chapter 10
Ryan placed the dish in front of Heather on their tiny kitchen table, then sat down opposite her. “I did my best,” he said.
Heather stared at her plate, both eyebrows raised. “You outdid yourself, love. This looks amazing.”
Lasagna sat in the center of the plate, just enough melted cheese on the top and oozing creamy béchamel. A small side salad, complete with feta cheese and Kalamata Olives garnished the plate.
Ryan poured her a single glass of merlot, then placed the bottle to one side. “I figured we never eat in anymore. And it’s been a while since I took a shot at it. Enjoy.”
Heather cut off a piece of lasagna, speared it with her fork and deposited it into her mouth. Flavors washed over her. She shut her eyes for a moment and appreciated them.
The tang of fresh tomato, creamy white sauce, oh boy, the noodles cooked to perfection. She swallowed and opened her eyes again. Ryan grinned at her.
“Remember?” He asked.
“I remember,” she whispered, then reached out and squeezed his hand.
He raised his glass, and she followed his lead.
“To us,” he said.
“To us,” she echoed his sentiment. They clinked their glasses together, then each took a measured sip and swallowed.
Heather tucked into her food and lost herself for a few minutes.
“Hon?” Ryan’s voice cut through her flavor reverie.
“Yeah?” She put her fork down and smiled at him. “Sorry, I’m just in such a happy place right now. I haven’t relaxed like this in months, not since before the wedding.”
“Things have been a little crazy lately. It’s good to take some time off from it all,” Ryan said and gobbled down a piece of feta cheese.
Heather nodded, then turned her fork over, twice. “Is it a bad thing that I wanted to talk about the case? I just found out something really interesting.”
“Oh thank goodness,” Ryan said and exhaled. “I’ve got something interesting to share with you too. I just didn’t want to ruin the mood.”
“You couldn’t if you tried,” Heather replied.
“Wait right here.” Ryan bounced up from his seat, then tossed his napkin beside his plate and hurried from the kitchen.
Dave padded into the kitchen, and his nails clicked on the tiles. He sat down, scratched his side, and then eyed out Heather’s plate.
“Ryan put some over there,” Heather said and pointed to Dave’s doggy bowl in the corner. “You know we’d never let you go without a treat, boy.”
Dave barked, wagged his tail, and then waddled to his bowl in the corner. His girth certainly had expanded of late. Perhaps, Lilly was right to take him on ‘brisk’ walks.
Ryan bustled back into the kitchen and slapped a photo down on the table. “Take a look.”
Heather picked it up, then gasped. “Quick Paul and…”
“Katie Hill.”
The grainy image showed Katie Hill face-to-face with Quick Paul. Her finger jabbed his chest, and her gaze spat fury at him. He smiled back at her.
“Turn it over,” Ryan said.
The back of the photo bore a handwritten note in permanent marker.
THIS IS WHY YOU’RE IN TROUBLE, HILL.
Heather stared at the words for a couple of seconds. “Where did you find this?”
“In Quick Paul’s apartment. Hoskins found it. Tried to hide it from me, for whatever odd reason,” Ryan replied. “But I got it. What do you think?”
“I think it makes sense given what I just found out.” Or did it?
“What did you find out?” Ryan asked, and sat down again. He picked up his knife and fork, then cut his lasagna into several even pieces.
“That Quick Paul and Jeremy Hill were ‘partners.' Though, I’m not sure how much of a partner Quick Paul was. I’m wondering whether that wasn’t his term for ‘loan shark,’ if you know what I mean.”
“Yeah, yeah, I get what you’re saying,” Ryan replied, then fed himself a bit of lasagna.
“But what does Katie have to do with it?” Heather mused. “I know for a fact she didn’t like him. She told me so. Which leads me to believe that whatever business deal Jeremy and Paul might’ve had, fell through or turned sour.”
Heather studied Katie’s expression.
“What gets me, is who even took this photo?” Ryan asked. “Unless it was from a camera on a timer or Quick Paul had an associate.”
“That makes sense. So, somehow, Katie getting angry was a reason for Quick Paul to blackmail Jeremy. In trouble, huh, Katie was the reason Jeremy was in trouble?” Heather placed the photo in the center of the table, then picked up her knife and fork. “Now, that does confuse me.”
“What if Mrs. Hill was angry about whatever deal they had and went after Quick Paul for it?” Ryan asked.
“But this photo is prepared, it’s staged. Which means either Katie frequently tried to assault Quick Paul or Quick Paul –”
“Knew that Katie was coming.” Ryan clicked his fingers. “What if Katie and Quick Paul were working together, against Jeremy?”
Heather shook her head and ate an olive. “No. Ugh, I don’t know. This is all muddled up. Katie loves her son to bits. I could tell from the way she acted with him. I don’t think she’d do anything to jeopardize that.”
Ryan finished another piece of lasagna, then took a sip of wine. “We can’t be sure of that. We can’t be sure of anything at this moment in time.”
“That’s what gets to me,” Heather replied. “We need to know more.” She picked up the picture and examined it again. “Most importantly, I need to speak to Katie about what’s going on in this picture.”
“Good idea,” Ryan replied. “I’m going to clear a few things up at the station tomorrow. Turns out, Davidson might come back in a couple of weeks.”
Heather shook her head. “Davidson and Hoskins, too? That’s going to be fun.”
Ryan raised his glass a second time. “To persistence.”
“Ditto.”
Chapter 11
Amy grasped the photo in her hand and leaned against the side of the car. “That expression on her face,” she whispered.
“Angry, right?” Heather asked, and lifted the box of Raspberry Mojito Donuts from the passenger seat. She slammed her car door shut, then locked it.
‘That expression is what my nightmares are mad of,” Amy replied. “Seriously. She reminds me of a middle school teacher we had. She was –”
“Miss Tunsten?” Heather asked. “Squirrelly face and a mean attitude. I’ll never forget her.”
The front door of the Hill house slammed open, and Katie charged onto the porch.
“School is in,” Amy muttered. “Quick, give her the donuts.”
“Hello, Mrs. Hill,” Heather called up to her, then crossed around to Amy’s side of the car and fumbled the photo out of her bestie’s hands. She tucked it into the back pocket of her jeans.
“Get out of here,” she yelled, then cleared her throat. She lowered her voice. “Kieran is sleeping. You need to leave, now.”
“Mrs. Hill, Katie, we need to talk about something,” Heather replied. She stepped onto the path and walked to the front step of the house.
Katie Hill folded her arms. Her right eye twitched. “If you don’t leave I’ll call the cops.”
“We brought you donuts,” Amy said and peered around Heather at the furious woman on the porch. She was younger than them by at least ten years, but she had the fury of who knew what inside her soul.
Clearly, something had upset Katie Hill.
A van pulled up behind them, and Heather turned to the road.
Two burly men got out of the car and walked up to the stairs. They pushed past Amy and Heather, then traipsed up the stairs and into Katie’s home.
“What on earth?” Heather asked. “What was that?”
“I told you to leave,” Katie said. She stepped forward and slapped the Donut Delights box from Heather’s hand. It fell to the floor and popped open. Two donuts rolled across the stones and into the short-clipped grass of the garden.
“How dare you,” Amy said, and her voice shook with intensity. “Heather spent hours planning and making those donuts. No one else in Hillside has tasted them yet.”
Apart from Amy and Heather, of course.
“Can you explain this picture?” Heather asked and whipped the photo from her pocket. She couldn’t waste any more time on donuts and yelling. She had to get the answers she needed. “It appears you lied to me about your relationship with Quick Paul Jackson.”
Katie grabbed the photo from Heather and stared at it. She turned it over and blinked at the words scrawled across the back. “Where did you get this?”
The burly guys in overalls carried a TV out of the front door, and Heather and Amy leaped out of their path.
“Repossession?” Amy whispered.
Heather swallowed and focused on Katie again. “That’s evidence, Mrs. Hill. I’d like it if you gave that back.”
“Where did you get this?” Katie shrieked and wobbled the photo at her. “What are you doing taking photos of me? You’re a creep. A stalker!”
“First the donuts, now this. I can’t deal,” Amy said and turned on her heel. She marched back to Heather’s car and muttered under her breath.
“From the investigating officer in Paul Jackson’s murder case. Kindly explain your relationship with him,” Heather replied.
Katie sagged and braced herself on the wooden balustrade. The picture shook in her grip. “I can’t believe this. After everything, we’ve been through. After the years of Diapers and dreams. This is what it’s come to.”
Diapers and dreams, now that was a title she didn’t hear every day.
“Mrs. Hill –”
“Well, you know what? You can keep your evidence. You can keep your town. And the banks can keep our possessions if that’s what they want.” Katie paused and glared at the guys, on their way back up the path. “All I care about is my family. My son.”
“Mrs. Hill, I didn’t mean to upset you, but it’s imperative that you answer my questions, calmly. The sooner you do that, the sooner I can leave you alone,” Heather replied.
She brought out her notepad and pen, then scratched a line at the top of the page. Thank goodness, it worked. No black ink disaster, today.
Katie straightened and glared at her. She lifted the picture, then tore it in two. She threw the pieces at Heather. “There. You can leave right now. You want me to answer your questions? Get a warrant for my arrest.” Then she turned and charged back into the house.
The repo guys strode in after her, probably to remove a stereo system, this time.
Heather bent and picked up the pieces of the picture, then walked back down the garden path. She stopped in front of her bestie.
Amy paced back and forth in front of the car, cheeks redder than a raspberry jelly. “How dare she?!”
“She’s upset, hon. Her life is falling apart around her ears. How would you react?” Heather asked.
“Better than that,” Amy snapped. She sucked in a breath, then exhaled a chuckle. “Okay, that’s not true. When Kent was attacked, I behaved like a total idiot.”
Heather’s cell buzzed in her pocket, and she worked it out, then swiped to answer. “Hello?”
“Babe, it’s me,” Ryan said, and she couldn’t place that tone. Not professional, but not entirely comfortable either.
“Hey, what’s up?” Heather asked. Ryan had the day off from work, and a night shift planned. She hadn’t expected to hear from him this soon after leaving home.
“You need to come home. Now,” Ryan replied.
Heather frowned and met her bestie’s gaze. “Why? What’s wrong?”
“Bill and Colleen are here. They want to talk to us, together,” he replied.
“Do you know what it’s about?” Heather asked, and her stomach sank into the bottoms of her shoes.
“Yeah,” Ryan replied. “It’s about Lilly. Come quick.”
Chapter 12
“Thanks for meeting with us on such short notice,” Colleen said and sat down on the sofa. The same spot Lilly sat whenever she came for slumber parties and movie nights.
Bill slid in beside his wife and placed his palms on his knees. “We think it’s important to keep you in the loop with regards to our plans for the future.”
“And we appreciate that,” Ryan replied.
Heather sat down beside him on her favorite spot, then patted the space beside her. Ryan joined her and placed his arm around her shoulders. He squeezed once and gave her a tight smile, concern etched into the lines around his mouth and eyes.
“So, what do you need to discuss with us?” Heather asked.
Bill and Colleen exchanged a glance. “Lilly,” they said, together.
Ryan shifted and released his grip on Heather. He placed his palms together and leaned forward. “What about her?”
“Well, you know we’ve been thinking about leaving Hillside,” Colleen replied. “That’s a consideration we’ve been taking seriously.”
“Yeah, we’ve gone over all the options multiple times. We warned you beforehand for a reason.”
“Warned us,” Heather said, and she bristled instantly. She calmed herself and shut her mouth. Anger wouldn’t help in this situation. They had to hear the ‘foster folks’ out.
“We’ve made our decision with regards to moving away from Hillside,” Colleen said, after a minute.
Heather chewed the insides of her cheeks. Fear screamed around in her stomach and twisted up her throat. She couldn’t lose Lilly. Heather glanced at the side of her husband’s face. They couldn’t lose Lilly.
“We’ve decided we’re going to move away from Hillside.” Bill’s tone spoke of finality.
“But,” Colleen said, and raised her finger. “We know that Lilly doesn’t want to leave and that she’s attached to you two.”
“And Dave,” Heather said. “And Amy. And everyone at Donut Delights. You can’t do this to her.” She snapped her mouth shut to keep from saying more, but the damage was done.
It was Bill’s turn to bristle. His neck reddened and he cleared his throat. “We’re not trying to harm Lilly. Quite the opposite. We’ve felt for a long time that Hillside is not the right place to raise a child.”
Colleen bobbed her chin up and down. “The murders –”
“Let me assure you that the murder rate in Hillside is no higher than any other town its size across the country,” Ryan replied, smoothly. He hadn’t broken a sweat.
Heather swallowed and tried to ease her nerves. She practiced her yoga breathing.
“Whatever the case may be,” Colleen said. “We’ve come to talk about a few things with you. Options.”
“What kind of options?” Heather asked.
Bill sighed and scraped his palms down the sides of his face.
“Bill doesn’t agree with me on this. He doesn’t want to lose Lilly or stand to lose her, whatever happens, but I convinced him otherwise.”
“I’ll change my mind if you d
on’t hurry this up,” Bill replied, in a low grunt. He stared at a point on the wall and tapped the heels of his shoes on the floor boards.
“Lilly is a foster child. I believe she deserves a choice,” Colleen said. “She should be able to choose who she wants to live with in this case.”
It would take too long to find Lilly another loving home in Hillside. She’d be in the system again and pushed through to who knew which family. Panic set in and Heather shifted to the edge of the sofa. “She needs to be in a good home.”
“We have a good home,” Bill snapped.
“Please,” Colleen said and raised her palm. “Everyone just calm down and let me get to the point, for goodness sake.”
The room fell silent, except for Dave, who sat in the corner and scratched beneath his collar. He wouldn’t miss this meeting for the world, of course.
“Would you two be willing to foster Lilly if she chose to live with you?” Colleen asked.
Heather’s insides exploded into a state of hope, joy, confusions and every other emotion in the book. Thoughts collided in her mind and rushed through her soul. Lilly, with them?
She turned to Ryan and grasped his arm. She dug her fingernails into his skin. “Please,” she said. That was all she had to say.
“Yeah, we would be interested in fostering Lilly,” Ryan replied.
Tears pricked the corners of Heather’s eyes.
“Ridiculous,” Bill muttered.
They ignored him.
“All right,” Colleen replied. “I want to do what’s best for Lilly, and I don’t think that ripping her out of the town she was born in, and the school she knows will help her in the long run. However, it’s not my decision.”
Heather nodded. This was fair – she certainly hadn’t expected it from Colleen and Bill.
“This is Lilly’s decision. So, I’m going to tell her all about it this evening and ask her if she wants me to organize a meeting with Pamela and you guys, to set this up.” Colleen took a handkerchief out of her pocket and dabbed at her eyes. “I love that girl, but if this is what’s best for her, then this is what we have to do.”
Raspberry Mojito Murder: A Donut Hole Cozy Mystery - Book 20 Page 4