Pistols & Pies (Sweet Bites Book 2) (Sweet Bites Mysteries)

by Heather Justesen

  He shook his head. “No one asked me about anything except the day Eric was killed.”

  Michael turned to Lenny and studied him. “So what’s with you? How come you’re here?”

  “I work at the pastry shop with Tess.”

  “Really? You cook all day, and put sprinkles on cupcakes and stuff?” Michael grinned at Lenny and crossed his arms over his chest, as if enjoying the joke. “You don’t look like a wuss.”

  Lenny chuckled. “Real men cook. Chicks totally dig it. Didn’t anyone tell you that?”

  “Give me a break. The guys would laugh me out of town if I started baking. Even flipping burgers would be better. Don’t you have any other skills?”

  Lenny nodded. “Lots. In fact, I have a few that got me in trouble when I was your age.”

  “Yeah? Too bad.” Michael’s face crumpled with false concern. “Did you get your knuckles rapped?”

  Lenny appeared unfazed by Michael’s patronizing tone. “If you consider jail time a knuckle rap, then yeah, you could say that. Personally, I didn’t think jail was much fun. That’s one of the reasons I looked for something different; something I loved that wouldn’t get me sent back inside.”

  Michael’s brows lifted in surprise and he leaned forward. “What did you do?”

  Lenny laughed. “I’m totally not encouraging you, kid. You don’t want to go that route. Trouble is no fun, and I can see it written all over you, just like it was on me.”

  “Is this where you tell me that I can still make better choices, and that if I don’t straighten up and get better friends, I’m doomed to a wasted life?” He said it as if he’d heard the diatribe a thousand times.

  “Sounds like you already know the lecture, so I’ll skip it. But you know where following your friends is going to lead you?” Lenny asked when he stood to leave.

  Michael smirked. “To jail.”

  “If you’re lucky.” Lenny opened the door to the hallway and stood in the half-light. “Most of my friends from back home are dead or so hopped up on drugs that they don’t know which way is up. Jail sounds like a nice place in comparison, doesn’t it?”

  Michaels’ eyes bugged. I stood and followed Lenny out the door. I didn’t think it would help Michael—no one could help him but himself, but with luck maybe he’d see where he was going before it was too late.

  Shawn rose immediately when we entered, looking pleased to be able to leave. We stopped for a few minutes to speak with Mrs. Hogan, reassuring her as much as I reasonably could, considering I still didn’t know who the killer was, and I was going to have to prove the real killer’s guilt to take her son completely off Tingey’s list of suspects.

  When we reached the car, I took in a deep breath to clear my head. “I guess we need to call Tingey. The kid has alibis for both attacks on me. He’s on some traveling baseball team.”

  “I’ll take care of it.” Shawn pulled out his phone. He walked ahead of us, keeping his eyes on the surroundings, casing it for danger.

  Lenny and I walked slower, enjoying the quiet of the night.

  “What are you thinking?” I asked.

  He didn’t respond for a long moment. “I can totally see myself in his eyes eight years ago. I had things worse, was in deeper, but he could go south with only the slightest nudge.” He shook his head. “Why are kids so stupid sometimes?”

  I laughed. “Come on, we’re all pretty stupid sometimes. I started a pastry shop in a little town in the middle of the desert. You—you’re the stupidest one of all because you followed me here with only the promise of a piddling paycheck, leaving behind the woman you love as if it were no big deal.”

  Lenny bristled. “That’s different.”

  “Yeah, it’s always different, isn’t it?” I stopped at the passenger side door of Shawn’s car since I refuse to ride in Lenny’s little potato unless absolutely necessary, and I didn’t feel up to driving again yet. “Look, it’s your life and your decision, and only you can know what’s really right for you,” I told Lenny. “But the truth is, we both came here because we were running from something. Or rather from someone. The difference between me and you is that my someone wasn’t worth keeping. Can you say that about Kat?”

  Lenny didn’t answer, so I climbed inside by Shawn, who was already behind the wheel. We didn’t speak the rest of the way home.

  After Lenny took off that night, Shawn hung around my place. Kat headed to bed, though I didn’t know whether that was because she was already tired, or if she wanted to give us privacy. Either way, Shawn took immediate advantage of it.

  “I want to apologize,” he said, following me into the kitchen.

  “For what, exactly?” I asked as I pulled a can of garbanzo beans and a bag of chips from my cupboard. I was hungry despite the fact that we’d eaten dinner earlier.

  “You don’t know?” Apparently that possibility dumbfounded him because he stopped and blinked a couple of times.

  “Oh, no, I know why you should be apologizing; I just want to see if you know what you’re apologizing for.” I grabbed lemon juice and a bunch of garlic for hummus. “Sometimes guys just say they are sorry to get hard feelings taken care of, but don’t actually understand what they did, so they can’t stop themselves from doing it again.”

  “All right, here goes.” He let out a long breath and started talking faster than usual, as if afraid he wouldn’t get it all out if he spoke at a normal speed. “I know I’m being pushy, and I’ve been ragging on Lenny, and that he’s a good friend of yours. I don’t have a right to do that. I know I’m not a major component of your life, so I don’t have any say in how you live it.” He sucked in another breath and continued talking slower this time, his voice going softer, and a bit husky. “It’s just . . . I saw my life pass before my eyes when you were hurt yesterday, and it was all too easy to imagine another scenario where you weren’t mostly behind that door; where you weren’t shielded at all.”

  When I turned away, he touched my chin and nudged it until I looked him in the eye. “It took that door off the hinges, Tess. This person we’re dealing with—he or she is not normal. They have no compunction about hurting you. They didn’t even know it would be you who answered the door. It could as easily have been Lenny or Kat. How would you feel now if it was Lenny who was nearly killed?”

  I leaned into him, pressing my face into his chest, allowing him to wrap me in his arms. “I know. Don’t you think it haunts me? I barely slept last night for worrying that one of them would be hurt next time. That it would spill over onto someone beside me. I don’t want anyone else to be hurt, Shawn. I couldn’t stand it. And the only way to stop it from happening is to stop whoever is doing all of this.”

  “And you have to be the one to do that?” he asked.

  “Who else?”

  I knew the answer he wanted to give, but he held himself back, which made his efforts worth far more in my eyes.

  2 cups (1 16-oz can) canned garbanzo beans, drained

  1/4 cup olive oil

  2 Tbspn lemon juice

  1 tspn salt

  2 cloves garlic, halved

  1-2 Tbsp water

  Mix beans, olive oil, lemon juice, salt and garlic in a blender or food processor until it forms a paste, add water slowly to desired consistency. You can add more lemon juice if you like. Serve with chips or flat bread.

  Kat came out a while after Shawn left. She sat in front of the television and turned on a lame reality show that I’d seen Lenny watching the previous week.

  “How’d it go?” she asked.

  “Fine, I guess. Shawn already called Detective Tingey and told him about Michael’s alibis for the attacks on me, but I don’t know if it’ll be enough to get him off for the murder. He did lie about the fact that he was at the fitness center that afternoon.” Though I understood the reason the kid did it, lying made all of this look worse for him.

  “Stupid kid.” There was a noticeable lack of venom in her tone.

  “Yeah. Lenny said Mic
hael reminds him of himself. And right about now, I’d call him a stupid kid too.” I sat beside her and looked over to see Kat’s eyes were red and puffy. “How are you holding up?”

  She shook her head and wiped her hands over her cheeks, leaving wet trails behind. “I shouldn’t have come here. It was a stupid decision. It’s not going to make any difference and he doesn’t really love me. Not enough. I’m going home tomorrow.”

  I felt a strange sense of panic at that thought. She hadn’t been around long enough to give Lenny time to realize what a jerk he was being. “It’s only been two days. Less. You could hang out here an extra couple of days if you want. I’m in no hurry to have you go.”

  She shook her head. “I can’t stay here. I want to but I just can’t. It’s too hard.”

  My heart broke for her, understanding exactly what she felt. “I’m really sorry. I thought for sure if he saw you, it would make all of the difference. I know he misses you. I don’t understand men, sometimes.” My current confusion over Shawn was not helping.

  “Sometimes?”

  I chuckled. “Okay, I never understand them. And they say we’re mysteries.”

  We sat with only the television filling the silence for a moment before I decided to volunteer a little information. “I’ve been engaged twice, you know. And neither of them worked out. Obviously.”

  “Wow. Lenny told me about Bronson, the jerk, but what happened with the other one?” Kat asked.

  “We were engaged for a couple of months, but he kept hedging every time I tried to set a date, pick the color, you know? Then he came to me one day and said he made a mistake, that he wasn’t ready for marriage. I couldn’t believe it. It crushed me.” I reached over and gave her wrist a squeeze. “I think Lenny’s nuts for not jumping at the chance to keep you here. He loves you, but having him walk away now would be easier than having him do it later.”

  She looked away, but I could still see the pain etched on her face.

  “How are you feeling with everything going on?” she asked a long moment later. “You’ve been moving like you hurt, but you keep passing it off as nothing. I hear Shawn wouldn’t let you lift anything today.”

  Even though she was right, I didn’t want to make a big deal out of my sore muscles and bruises. “I’m pretty stiff, but no cracked ribs, so there’s no reason to baby me. Sometime before Christmas I might even get my head working properly again.” I felt more than a little fuzzy when I tried to work on the books that afternoon, so I gave up. Hopefully tomorrow would be better.

  “It’s crazy you keep getting attacked like that.” Kat threaded her fingers together and looped them around her raised knees, leaning one cheek on her right knee. “There’s got to be a safer way to do all of this.”

  “You’d think so, wouldn’t you? Right now it’s just par for the course. Someone gets killed, I try to figure out who, they try to kill me, then…who knows. I’ve managed to stay alive so far. I know I’m starting to get close, but with every move forward, I feel like I’m actually moving farther away.” I stood and patted Kat’s shoulder. “I’m heading to bed. I know it’s early, but it’s been an insanely long night.” I hoped a good night’s sleep would fix the numbness in my brain and get me thinking straight again.

  In the morning I stayed busy in the kitchen. Lenny and I talked business, but there was no personal chatter. Detective Tingey came by and we talked with him before returning to work. I kept going over the information I had, trying to piece something together, but it wasn’t working. I had no idea who had killed Eric or why. Every direction I checked seemed to lead to a dead end. I must have missed something—something important, but I couldn’t figure out what it was.

  “Did you see Kat this morning?” Lenny asked when the bulk of the baking was done.

  “She was still asleep when I came down. I think I heard her moving around earlier.” I’d heard her on the stairs and looked over to see her loading her bags in the car. I expected her to come in and say goodbye. I hoped she would, anyway.

  When the front door opened a moment later, she entered and stood just inside, watching Lenny come out to her from the kitchen. “I thought I’d better say goodbye.” Her voice shook and her eyes were red, like she’d been crying.

  “Oh, are you running some errands? Heading into Phoenix for the day?” Lenny’s stance was casual, shoulders back, arms relaxed, but his voice was a few notes higher than usual. He was freaked.

  “Actually, I’m heading home. I’ve finished up what I came to do, so I have no more reason to be here.” She stood there, not moving, while Lenny watched her in shock. “Do I?”

  “You’re leaving?” The color drained from his face. “Back to Chicago. Already?”

  “Unless you give me a reason to stay.” She wet her lips, swallowing hard.

  “Oh.”

  That’s it, just “Oh?” Really? What was he thinking? In disgust I turned and walked back to the kitchen. If the idiot didn’t stop her, there was nothing I could do about it. I wanted to smack him upside the head, see if I could jolt some sense into him.

  “Bye, Tess, thanks for letting me stay with you,” she called from the front. The bell over the door rang before I could even respond and silence filled the room. If it had been a customer coming in, surely Lenny would have greeted them. Shifting to the side, I looked out the cutout in the wall so I could see what was going on. Lenny stood in the shop, staring out the window as Kat walked away.

  I watched him for several seconds then went over and smacked him on the back of the head—some things are just inevitable. “You are such an idiot. Go bake some cookies or something.”

  “She left.” His voice was monotone, worried and upset.

  “You think? And why would she do something like that? I mean, you sure didn’t give her a reason to stay.” I turned away from him and through the kitchen door heard the sound of her engine turning over out back.

  “She’s leaving,” he said from behind me, having followed me into the kitchen.

  “I think you already covered that.” I put my hands on my hips and turned to him. “Besides, you left her first.”

  “But I thought she would come to me.” His voice got softer with each comment.

  “Idiot. She did come to you, remember? She drove all the way from Chicago. Yeah, she used the lame excuse that she was checking things out for her painting, but she never came here before you were here, did she? She came for you.” I poked my finger into his chest. “And now she’s leaving. If you let her go, you know you’ll regret it. What are you going to do about it?”

  Gravel crunched under tires as Kat pulled out of the parking lot.

  Lenny’s head lifted, understanding filling his face. Pivoting, he ran out the back door.

  I grinned and moved to the window in the new door, since the old door had been replaced. Lenny ran through the parking lot, yelling her name until she stopped the car. She opened the door and fumbled with the seat belt. He pulled her out of the car and into his arms, holding and kissing her and saying something I couldn’t hear, even when I opened the door. But I could see her tears as she nodded and kissed him again. He picked her up and whirled her around.

  I got teary-eyed as well.

  “They’re a funny couple,” Shawn said from right behind me.

  “Yeah, aren’t they?” I dabbed at my eyes, not wanting to have streaks of mascara on my face. “I always thought they were such a mismatch, but I guess opposites do attract. And she’s so good for him. I knew him when they were first dating and he’s practically a different person now, so much more secure, happy and goal oriented.”

  “You say that like it’s a surprise.” Shawn slid an arm around my shoulder, pulling me close while we watched the happy couple.

  “Well, you think he’s a bit mussed now, he used to be worse, T-shirts that showed off his tats, wild hair colored purple and his earrings dangled to his shoulders. It was not a pretty picture.”

  “How did you ever dare hire a kid like hi
m to work for you in the restaurant?” Shawn asked.

  I covered his hand with my own. “He had the credentials and I was desperate. I needed someone that night. He came in, he jumped when I said to jump, kept his area clean and managed the thousand and one things I threw at him much more efficiently than most new-out-of-school kids.” I gave Shawn a smug look, until it hurt a little where the skin pulled against my bruised chin. “It was love from the first night on. I can’t handle incompetence, so it was terrific having him work with me. And he learns fast. Cleans up pretty well, too.”

  “And he really is like a brother to you, isn’t he?” Shawn twirled a tendril of my hair that had escaped my bun.

  I thought about it, smiling when a warm, fuzzy feeling entered my chest. “He really is. A few weeks ago I was feeling kind of disconnected. You know I have no family left, my parents have been dead for over a decade, I have no connection to my mom’s family, my dad’s mom is gone and she was all I had left. But in the past week I’ve realized that there are different kinds of families. Honey is my sister, and her crew has all accepted me in with them. Lenny is my family and because of him, now Kat and I may someday become close. And Honey’s family—in-laws and all—accepted Lenny because he was with me. No questions, no problems, he was just one of theirs because he was mine, and I was theirs.” My eyes watered, but I managed not to let any tears fall.

  I turned to him. “I needed that.”

  And for the first time I realized that was what I was looking for when I dated my boss at the hotel in Chicago. I’d clung to the relationship because my grandma had just died and I was lonely. His family was tight and great, and his grandmother had loved me, though she was far from being the matronly grandma that mine had been. I wanted somewhere to belong, and he had given me that. But I didn’t need a man for that, because I had created it for myself, even if we were a bit of a mishmash.

  “I’m glad.” Shawn slid his other arm around me as well, wrapping me in his embrace. “I hate to think of you here alone. And after seeing how he acted when you were hurt, I know that Lenny would do almost anything for you. That makes me feel better—that you have someone here in the building watching out for you when I’m gone.” He brushed his lips over mine, making my blood hum. Or maybe that was just me.