The Emma Wild Mysteries: Complete Holiday Collection Books 1-4 (Cozy Romantic Mysteries with Recipes)

by Lin, Harper

  “Emma.” Her eyes widened in surprise at the sight of me. “What are you—?”

  “I’m sorry,” I said.

  Crying in front of other people was the worst. Not only was it incredibly humiliating, I hated to bring other people down.

  “Is everything okay?”

  I couldn’t even look at her.

  “It’s nothing. I mean, it was just a crazy afternoon.”

  “Mommy, why is the lady crying?” her son asked.

  “This is Blake, Jr.”

  “Hi Blake.” I blew into a tissue.

  “What happened?” asked Kendra.

  I started sobbing again. My face was probably contorted into my ugly crying face.

  “Maybe I shouldn’t say this in front of your son.”

  “Say what?” she exclaimed.

  In a shaky whisper, I parlayed everything that had taken place earlier when Blake, Jr seemed distracted by a ladybug on the lawn. Kendra gasped.

  “Who died?”

  “I don’t know. This woman from another town. Her name was Emma too.”

  I heard Kendra inhale as I wiped my face with a new tissue from my purse.

  “I think I need to leave,” I said. “Coming back home was a bad idea. I’ve only been here for less than twenty-four hours and somebody drops dead? It’s not a good sign.”

  “Don’t be silly,” Kendra said. “I don’t know what happened at the cafe, but you have your family here. And it’s Christmas.”

  I looked up at her in gratitude for her kind words. It was unexpected of Kendra. Her face was still quite stony, but telling by the curves of her mouth, she looked like she was trying to cheer me up by forming what seemed like a smile.

  “I read that your boyfriend broke up with you,” she continued. “Is that why you’re back?”

  I nodded.

  “That must be humiliating that he would dump you for some lingerie bimbo.”

  I cried even harder.

  “You can’t go back to that,” Kendra said. “It’s good to take a break from all that, don’t you think? There are no tabloids here.”

  “Yeah, but there might be soon,” I said. “As soon as word spreads that someone’s been poisoned, it might be a media field day.”

  I don’t know why I was blabbering so much, but I couldn’t help it. I was a wreck.

  “Poison?” Kendra looked shocked.

  “Mommy, what’s poison?” asked little Blake.

  “I’m sorry,” I said. “There’s no proof of that, so I didn’t mean to say that in front of your son. It’s just been a very crazy day.”

  Kendra nodded. “Right. It sounds stressful. Maybe you should go home and relax.”

  “Okay.” I sniffed and wiped my last tear away. “Thanks Kendra.”

  With a heavy heart, I climbed up the porch stairs. My parents had probably gone back to work after welcoming me. Alone in the house, I decided to hole up in my room and try to take a nap.

  Horrible things had been happening to me lately that I thought it would be best that I disappeared from everyone. No ex-boyfriends, no tabloids, no fans, no dead bodies. But where could I go? Did I even want to go? Christmas was a time for family, and I’d probably be more miserable stuck on a resort alone somewhere. I could call a few friends who were living in Toronto or New York, but I didn’t want to spoil their holiday cheer in my emotional state. Then there were my industry friends. They partied like crazy, but I didn’t feel up for the party scene either.

  I let myself drift off.

  I dreamt that I was standing in the field of my high school and Nick and Sterling were both facing me. Suddenly they started throwing snowballs right at me. They were trying to kill me telling from the menacing looks on their faces. I didn’t know who had thrown the last one, but it hit my throat, and I began to cough out blood. The red blood tainted the pure white snow.

  I woke up coughing and grasping my throat.

  Maybe that was how the other Emma felt before she dropped dead.

  My cell phone rang. My head felt groggy, but I willed myself out of bed and reached into my bag. It was my manager, Rod.

  “Hello?”

  “Are you sick?” he asked. “I like that voice raspy. It sounds a lot sexier.”

  Rod was the kind of ostentatious New Yorker who wore fur coats and fedoras. He used to be a rock star, but retired to being a manager when the lifestyle got to fast for him.

  “No, just been sleeping. What’s up Rod?”

  “I’m hurt,” he said. “I called Nick and he said you got out of New York and you didn’t even tell me. I had to hear it from the tabloids that you guys had broken up.”

  “Yeah, well it’s not personal. It’s not as if I went around telling everyone.”

  “How dare he cheat on you? I thought he was the good kind of bastard.”

  “I don’t think he cheated,” I said. “I broke up with him, but I really don’t want to talk about that right now.”

  “Understood, honey. I just hope you’re doing alright. Where are you now, anyway?”

  I told him I was at my parents’ house, but left out the part about the dead fan.

  “Do I have a gig for you,” he said. “A Middle Eastern prince wants to pay you half a million to sing at his birthday party next week.”

  “What? You’re joking.”

  “No joke. Completely serious.”

  “Who is he?”

  “He wants to remain unnamed right now, but I talked to a representative who says he’s a spoiled party boy who just wants to have a good time. His birthday party is being held in this crazy lavish hotel in Dubai. Don’t worry, all you have to do is sing. No putting out or anything. I made sure of that. It’s a five song set on the 24th. It’s in and out. Just a very long flight, but you get to stay in this gorgeous hotel and everything.”

  “Next week? But it’s Christmas.”

  “I know, but it’s half a mil!”

  This sounded perfect. I was thinking about leaving earlier, wasn’t I? But now that the opportunity was presented to me, I wasn’t so sure.

  “It’s just that it’s…Christmas.”

  “This is really a no-brainer. That is, if you’re Jewish, like me.”

  I laughed.

  “I’ll think about it. Can I call you back tomorrow?”

  “Sure thing, doll. Sleep on it.”

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  Rod was probably right. Who would turn down the offer for 500K to sing a few songs? I used to go around and beg for people to hear me sing. But fortunately I was in a position now to make decisions where money wasn’t a factor. And I also felt like I had a responsibility to stay.

  The next morning I visited Mirabelle at her house. She was pregnant and she didn’t need any more stress around this time of year. The cafe was closed until further notice and she was sitting in front of the TV, watching a cheesy soap opera and eating Cheetos.

  “Want some?” She offered me the bowl.

  “No thanks.”

  I was apologetic about the cafe.

  “Oh, what’s to be sorry about?” she said. “I get a few days off. It’s fine. These things happen.”

  “Do they?”

  “Okay. It’s not every day that someone dies in my cafe, but it’s nobody’s fault. I’m sure we’ll find out soon that she just had some sort of medical condition. I think you worry way too much. You definitely got that from Mom.”

  “Why can’t I be more cool and collected like you and Dad?” I sighed. “When do you think the cafe’s going to be open again?”

  She shrugged. “Maybe in the next few days. I should hear from the police soon. Once the coroner confirms that it was a health issue, we’ll get the go-ahead to reopen.”

  I was still concerned that the cafe’s reputation might be tainted by this, but I didn’t say so. Mirabelle was so certain that there was no foul play, but I thought she was a little naive. She’d lived in this quaint town all of her life; she didn’t realize that horrible things happened all the
time. On my travels, I’ve seen some crazy stuff.

  “Ouch!” Mirabelle held her stomach. “The baby’s kicking.”

  “Little Drew?” I called to her belly.

  “Oh, the little rascal. Well anyway, just don’t worry. Everything’s going to be fine.

  We watched the dramatic soap opera in silence. An evil twin was going to pull the plug on the good twin, who was in a coma, but she kept getting interrupted by visitors coming in and talking to the coma girl in the hospital room that the evil twin had to hide in the closet each time. The whole thing made me chuckle.

  I didn’t tell Mirabelle about singing at the prince’s birthday thing. First of all, she would probably make fun of me. She might even encourage me to go, but I decided that I wanted to see her cafe reopened before I could say yes.

  ***

  When I walked back to my house, a black Honda pulled up my driveway. Sterling got out. At the sight of him, I froze again.

  “Hi,” he said.

  His two dimples made a brief appearance.

  “Hello,” I replied coldly.

  “How you doing?”

  “Fine.”

  He stood before me, looking as uncomfortable as I felt and trying to hide it.

  “I’m sorry to intrude,” he said. “I just thought it was best to tell you in person.”

  We were both huggings ourselves, freezing in the winter cold.

  “Do you want to come in?” I asked.

  “Sure, thanks.”

  My parents were both at work. Sterling looked around.

  “Wow,” he said softly. “It looks the same, like I’m traveling back in time.”

  “Wait till you see my bedroom,” I said, but quickly regretted it. “I mean—do you want some coffee?”

  “That would be nice.”

  I went into the kitchen to make a brew. It was really strange to have Sterling here. The bedroom comment had slipped out because we used to spend hours there, listening to music, hanging out and chatting. He was my best friend. I hoped he knew what I meant and didn’t think I was insinuating hooking up. Which I didn’t want. Certainly not.

  I came out with two cups. One cream and two sugars. That was how we both liked our coffees.

  He took a sip, then gulped the coffee down despite how hot it was. I stifled a grin, knowing that he liked it.

  We sat on the couch next to each other, but I tried to stay as far as I could. Still, I could smell his cologne and I felt numbed by all the heat emanating from my nervous body. Whether he felt it too, I didn’t know. He sat upright with his hands on his lap and looked everywhere but at me.

  “I heard that you have kids now?” I asked.

  “Yes, Maria is five and Sandy is two.”

  “Wow,” I said. “I bet they’re cute.”

  “They are.” He nodded. “And I’m divorced.”

  “Oh…that’s too bad.”

  Why he brought that up, I wasn’t so sure. Mirabelle had already told me, so it wasn’t a total shock. I wasn’t sure how I felt about it. It certainly did hurt to hear that he had been married, that he was so in love with someone else that he took the plunge. But did I want him to be single? I wasn’t so sure.

  “So, did you find out anything new?” I asked.

  “Well, yes,” he said grimly. “I hate to tell you this, but the coroner came back with the results today and it’s confirmed.”

  I held my breath. “What’s confirmed?”

  “She was poisoned. There was a lethal dose of cyanide in that hot chocolate. So you were right. Emma Chobsky was poisoned.”

  CHAPTER NINE

  I exhaled.

  “I knew it.”

  “My partner has been researching Emma Chobsky’s background to see if she had any enemies, but she doesn’t as far as we can tell. She was working as a personal trainer, she was single, had plenty of friends, and generally well-liked.”

  “That would explain the soy latte,” I said.

  “What do you mean?”

  “She drank soy because it was the healthier option. As you know, we took each other’s drinks by accident because we both shared the same name but didn’t know it at the time. So really, I was the target.”

  “Yes, which is another reason why I’m here. You’re right. You’re a celebrity. You’re much more of a target.”

  “I get people saying nasty things about me and to me all the time, but I didn’t think that anyone would actually try something like this. I just don’t know why.”

  “That’s what we’re trying to find out, but your safety is a concern right now. We have two guards monitoring your home at all times. They’re in unmarked cars, but they are there in case you need anything.”

  “What, you think the killer is actually going to break in one day?”

  “Who knows, but I do know that your home doesn’t have a security system. You need all the protection you can get.”

  I shook my head. “I just never thought that this would happen in Hartfield.”

  “Horrible things happen everywhere,” said Sterling.

  “I feel terrible for putting my family and everyone in town in danger. What’s going to happen to my sister’s cafe?”

  “It needs to remain closed for now, but our main concern is to get this guy behind bars as soon as possible. Our main concern is your safety.”

  He looked into my eyes. The way he looked at me was so soft and full of concern that it pained me.

  I nodded. “So what’s on the agenda to catch this killer?

  “Well, we’ve questioned everyone who was here. Unfortunately, there were so many people coming in and out that it was hard to keep track. The cafe has no security cameras, as you know, and there are none installed on the street.”

  “Any leads at all?” I asked.

  “We have a list of the customers and we’ve questioned some of them and all the staff.”

  I could tell from the glint in his eyes that he had someone.

  “Who do you suspect?” I asked.

  “Well, what do you know about Craig?”

  “The cashier?” I thought about it. “Nothing much.”

  “I questioned him earlier, and he set off some red flags.”

  “How so?”

  “I asked him whether he saw anyone or anything suspicious. He must’ve thought I was insinuating that he did it.”

  I raised an eyebrow. “Did you?”

  He shrugged coolly. “Whether I did or not, his reaction was suspect. He got defensive, saying that he would never poison you. But we’re digging more into his life. He didn’t grow up here. He didn’t know anyone here before he moved here a year ago. His family’s from Toronto. Grew up there. Seems a bit odd that he’d pack up to move to a small town alone, don’t you think?”

  “It does, but what does he want with me? Kidnapping me for money or something, that makes sense, but trying to kill me?”

  “Maybe he has some agenda with you. I want to look more into his background, see what I can dig up, but does he look familiar to you in any way?”

  I thought about it. I met all kinds of people all the time.

  “I don’t know,” I said. “All I know is that Mirabelle hired him a few months ago and she seemed to like him enough. I haven’t met him until the incident at the cafe. The line was so long that we didn’t exactly have time to chat.”

  “Well be careful. He’s coming into the station and I’m going to grill him further. We’ll get to the bottom of him. In the meantime, be on the lookout for anything suspicious.”

  “Okay.”

  “Here’s my number.” He slipped me his card with his phone number on it. “Can I take down your cell phone number in case I need to reach you?”

  “Sure.” I tried not to blush as I wrote down my number on a notepad from the side table.

  Sterling stood up.

  “Thanks for your time, Emma. We’ll be in touch.”

  “Yes. Good luck.”

  He wasn’t sure whether to hug me and I ju
st stood limp. He gave a small smile and left.