by Lyndsey Cole
“Hey. I told you. Keep her out of this,” Roy sneered.
“Yeah, you told me, but I’m done following your orders. This is my show now. Slide the bag over to me nice and slow.”
Roy did as he was told and Detective Jaffrey bent down to pick up the bag. “Great. Don’t get any funny ideas about calling the police or anything. Annie’s coming with me and I won’t hurt her if you all stay calm and quiet.” He winked at Leona. “Sorry I can’t hang around to get to know you better, sweetheart, but that’s life.”
Detective Jaffrey pulled Annie out of the café and back to her car. “Get in. I’m driving.”
Chapter 23
Annie rubbed some circulation back into her arm as her brain ran through her options. That hadn’t gone at all how she’d hoped. Even with Martha and her mother as back up in the Fabric Stash, she never had a chance to give them a warning to call Tyler.
“What’s your plan now?” she asked, trying to sound calm.
“Your time is up.”
A chill ran through Annie’s body. Those words. It wasn’t the first time they had rung in her ears. Everything clicked together in her brain “You left that message on Max’s phone,” she managed to whisper through her clenched teeth. “It was you, not Vincent or Jake who killed Max.”
Detective Jaffrey pushed on the accelerator.
Annie swung her hand and hit him on his wounded arm. “How does that feel? Max stabbed you with that awl and gave you that nasty puncture wound, didn’t he?”
The detective gasped in pain. “Max was a fool. He was so frantic to find you he never considered that Vincent and I would follow him. It was pathetic how Max begged me to just leave town and he would get the drugs back. But he knew too much. He came here to warn you and I couldn’t let that happen, now, could I? This pain can’t stop me.” He reached over and ran his fingers down Annie’s cheek. “I heard the lake is nice and deep right out from your apartment and I’ll be long gone while they’re still looking for you.”
Annie’s old Saab sputtered and died. For once she smiled at her car instead of cursing. Detective Jaffrey slammed his hands on the steering wheel. “What’s the matter with this piece of crap car? It only had to make it back to your apartment and to my boat.” He glared at her. “What’s wrong with it?”
“Well, Sally’s a bit temperamental and she doesn’t like anyone to drive but me.”
“Sally? You named your car?”
Annie shrugged, hoping this would give her a chance to escape. She only needed one opportunity and every nerve in her body surged, ready to flee.
“Okay, you drive but no funny stuff. Slide over while I go around.”
He got out of the car, keeping his eyes on Annie as she slid to the driver side. He scooted around to the passenger door but Annie turned the key and hit the power locks, promising way more than to give up chocolate for life this time if Sally started. She threw in ice cream with hot fudge sauce and crossed her fingers for good luck, too.
Sally started up on the first turn and Annie jammed her foot on the accelerator, knocking the Detective Jaffrey off his feet. She spun the car around, heading back toward the detective who stared frozen with wide eyes as she aimed straight for him.
Blue flashing lights approached from the opposite direction and she slammed on her brakes at the last second, stopping mere inches from the detective. Tyler’s police cruiser blocked him in between the cruiser and Annie’s Saab.
Detective Jaffrey’s head swiveled around, looking for an escape route. He was trapped like a deer caught in headlights. Tyler jumped out of his cruiser and had handcuffs on the detective before Annie even let her breath out. She sat behind the wheel, gripping it to help control her shaking, until her knuckles turned white.
More cars screeched to a stop behind Tyler’s cruiser and the first people to get to Annie’s car were Mia and Leona. Mia opened the car door and gently uncurled Annie’s fingers from the steering wheel, pulling her into her arms. “We were so worried when we saw Detective Jaffrey take you out with him, we decided to call Tyler before we even knew what had happened. Nothing made sense, but we knew there wasn’t any time to wait for an explanation.”
Annie fell against her mother’s shoulder. “I’m so glad you did, Mom. I think he planned to dump me in the lake.”
Roy appeared behind Mia. “Annie, I’m so sorry. This was all my fault. I only wanted to protect you but I almost got you killed.”
Leona dragged Roy away and Annie whispered to her mom, “I wouldn’t want to be dad now, Leona’s going to rip him a new you know what!”
Annie pushed away from her mother, running to Tyler. “Don’t let Vincent get away. All the drugs are packed in boxes in his car.”
Martha huffed and puffed over to Annie. “Oh, hon, you’re a welcome sight for these old eyes. You don’t have to worry about that Vinny varmint anymore. You should have seen the look on his face when he slipped into the puddle of fish guts next to the dock.”
Annie’s face relaxed and her mouth turned up into a big grin. “I hope he didn’t mess up that shiny suit of his,” she said sarcastically.
“Oh, there were just a wee bit of fish scales sticking to his clothes.”
“What was he doing by the docks?”
Mia interrupted, “Martha, bless her heart, had the presence of mind to disconnect the battery in his car when he went into the café. We thought he was the murderer, and if his car wouldn’t start, he wouldn’t get too far, now would he?”
Martha butted in to finish her tale. “It worked like a charm, and when he tried to make a run for it, splat, right into the fish guts. Head first. He’s going to stink up that jail cell pretty quickly. Poor Tyler.”
They all broke down into a fit of uncontrollable laughter with the image of Vincent covered in smelly fish scales sitting on a cold metal bench in the jail cell next to Detective Jaffrey.
After Tyler put the detective in the back of the cruiser, he asked Annie if she felt good enough to go to the station to give a statement.
She nodded with her hand over her mouth, trying to stop the giggles. Jason suddenly appeared at her side telling Tyler he would bring Annie since she was in no condition to drive. Mia and Leona said they would check on Smokey and Roxy and wait at Annie’s apartment for her to get back. Annie watched all the action as if in a slow motion dream.
Jason led her to his car. Max’s warning to not trust anyone shrieked in her head. She stopped and looked at Jason. “Can I trust you?”
“Yes.”
Staring into his dark eyes, she saw his honesty reflected back to her and she slid into the passenger seat of his car.
Jason asked, “You never suspected Detective Jaffrey did you?”
“Not until I heard his voice tell me ‘your time is up.’ Those exact words in that evil voice was the message on Max’s answering machine before I left. That and his injured arm.” She turned her body to face Jason. “There was always something about him but I couldn’t put my finger on it until that moment.”
Annie gave her statement to Tyler and once they matched the blood on the awl to Detective Jaffrey’s blood, there would be another piece of evidence against him.
“Go on home now, Annie. I know where to find you if I have any more questions.” He hugged her. “I’m glad we aren’t dredging the lake for your body.”
“Me too.”
Jason pulled into the driveway between her apartment and his house. “I’ll walk you to the door, if you don’t mind.”
She smiled. “Come on in if you want.”
“I need to run to my house, but I’ll be back.”
Roxy was sitting and waiting inside the door for Annie to return. “Hi girl.” Roxy gently put her two front paws on Annie’s chest and stared into her eyes, searching to be sure Annie was alright.
Leona laughed. “She hasn’t left that spot since we got here. She just sat down, staring at the door, waiting for you to walk in.”
Jason came back in less than five minut
es, carrying a bottle of wine and a frozen eggplant parmesan. “Anyone hungry?”
Leona winked at Annie and whispered as she walked by to take the casserole from Jason, “Don’t let this one get away!”
Behind the scenes with Lyndsey
I love picking blueberries at the U-Pick farm down the road from where I live. It’s a cleared area with about 300 bushes nestled in the middle of the woods. Last year I brought my two grandsons along to “help”. The younger one, Danny, is two so he was happy to sit in front of a bush and pick the low hanging fruit. Needless to say, none of his berries ended up in our containers!
My older grandson, Mark, is four and he chatted and picked happily following along with me. He’s at that age where he never runs out of questions: “Mimi, why are some of the berries green? Shouldn’t they be called greenberries? Mimi, how many bushes are there?” It went on and on this way until I noticed he was quiet, looking toward the trees at the edge of the field.
“Mimi, you know what my favorite birds are? I like the red cardinals and the blue cardinals best.” I saw that he was looking at several blue jays squawking like they always do, and sitting quietly near them was one brilliant red cardinal. The blue jays and cardinals are similar in size and shape so in my grandson’s eyes they are all cardinals. For the rest of my life, I will look at the blue jays with this memory of my day picking blueberries and seeing “blue cardinals” for the first time!
After the adventure of picking, the next bit of fun starts. We all work together to make . . .
Blueburied Muffins
First things first, though. Mark and Danny need a snack after all the hard work of picking so I get them set up at my kitchen island with a glass of milk and a Blueburied Muffin that I already have on hand (they store great!). It took me some time to figure out that the kids were the most helpful while eating a snack, giving me time to get most of the batter put together. While they chatter away happily and eat their snack I get all the ingredients out and get started.
First I preheat the oven to 375 F.
In a large bowl I mix together, with an electric mixer for about 2 minutes until light and fluffy:
½ cup unsalted butter
1 ¼ cups white sugar
Then I add 2 eggs to the butter/sugar mix—one at a time until everything is well blended. I use my own eggs from my backyard chickens which makes it nice and deep yellow.
In another bowl I mix the dry ingredients together:
2 cups all purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
I measure ½ cup milk into a third container and set it aside.
At this point, the boys are about done with their snack so I save this next job for them.
I try to have some fancy muffin papers just for when they visit and they get the important job of carefully lining the 12 cup muffin pan while I mix everything together.
With the three bowls in front of me, I mix the dry ingredients (flour, salt and baking powder) into the creamed mixture (butter, sugar and eggs) alternately with the ½ cup milk. The process is to add about ½ the dry mixture, then the ½ cup milk, then the rest of the dry mixture. But don’t forget to mix after each addition.
By now, Mark and Danny have the muffin pans lined and the last task is ready for them. They get to dump 2 cups of blueberries, lightly dusted with flour, into the batter. That’s where they came up with the name Blueburied! All those berries cover the batter and they laugh thinking it’s about the funniest thing they’ve seen. Every time! A few stirs to mix the berries into the batter and it’s time to spoon the batter into the muffin cups. Fill each muffin cup about 2/3 full.
The pan can be put into the oven at this point, or, if you like them a little sweeter, you can sprinkle a little sugar on the top of each uncooked muffin. I’m sure you can guess what happens in my house! Yup. Our muffins get that sprinkle of sugar and finally they go into the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes. Sometimes I forget to set the timer but a good test is to check a couple of muffins with a toothpick to make sure they are done. The toothpick should come out clean, unless, of course, you spear a blueberry.
One last thought . . . This recipe is easy to double if you’re expecting company, because I know how fast they disappear in my house and I bet they’ll go fast in yours too!
Enjoy!
~Lyndsey
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Lyndsey Cole lives in New England in a small rural town with her husband, dogs, cats and chickens. She has plenty of space to grow lots of beautiful perennials. Sitting in the garden with the scent of lilac, peonies, lily of the valley or whatever is in bloom, stimulates her imagination about mysteries and romance.
ONE LAST THING . . .
If you enjoyed this installment of The Black Cat Café Cozy Mystery Series, be sure to join my FREE COZY MYSTERY BOOK CLUB! Be in the know for new releases, promotions, sales, and the possibility to receive advanced reader copies. Join the club here—http://LyndseyColeBooks.com
OTHER BOOKS BY LYNDSEY COLE
The Black Cat Café Series
BlueBuried Muffins
Annie Fisher is scared. She’s scared of the mess her boyfriend, Max Parker, is in the middle of and she has to get out of his house. She puts a whole state between them and drives like a madwoman from Cooper, NY to her hometown of Catfish Cove, NH where she hopes she’ll be safe.
She decides to start a new life, a life she ran away from two years ago but is finding herself missing as soon as she gets home. Annie immediately has a place to live, a job at her Aunt Leona’s new café—Black Cat Café—and plenty of boyfriend prospects. Unfortunately, she also has plenty of bad things follow her.
Like Max Parker. Only the next time she sees him he’s dead. Suddenly everyone she runs into turns into a potential suspect. There are ghosts from her past and new neighbors that make her hair stand on end. And right in the middle of everything is Annie with Max’s last warning to her—Don’t trust anyone. Will those words prove to keep her safe or put too much distance between Annie and those trying to help her?
StrawBuried in Chocolate
Annie Fisher wakes up on Friday the thirteenth, but she reminds herself she’s not superstitious. The Black Cat Café is loaded up with special Valentine’s Day goodies, the most popular being Annie’s chocolate covered strawberries. She is so looking forward to a romantic weekend with current flame, landlord and neighbor, Jason Hunter.
But when her Aunt Leona finds a body in Jason’s house, all plans for that romantic weekend are scrapped. All Annie, Leona, Mia and Jason can think about is who killed Lacy McGuire and why.
With more and more clues pointing toward Leona as the killer, they need to work fast to figure out who the real killer is before Leona ends up in jail for good. To complicate matters for Annie, information surfaces about her birth parents, a mystery she’s been working on for the past few years. She thinks she wants to find the answers, but will it destroy her world?
Now, Annie must struggle to save her aunt, but as she questions neighbors and relatives, will she put herself in danger with the real killer? Will she save her aunt but get herself killed in the process?
BlackBuried Pie
The Fourth of July weekend promises lots of excitement for the cozy town of Catfish Cove. A dog parade, bonfire, barbecue and fireworks are sure to bring in the crowds and give a boost to all businesses, including the Black Cat Café.
To prepare for the onslaught of customers, Annie Fisher has to keep their supply up of blackberries from Hayworth Fruit Farms for everyone’s favorite, blackberry pie. But when she finds the berry farmer unconscious in his field, her mind immediately goes to the worst possible scenario. To make matters worse, the farmer’s neighbor turns up dead and anonymous messages drag Annie into the mystery when all she wants to do is spend time with her handsome boyfriend.
With clues pointing in every direction, Annie needs to figure out who’s lying and who she can trust before she ends up as the next vi
ctim in the killer’s web of deceit.
Very Buried Cheesecake
This should be an exciting time for Annie with the opening of her new art gallery, but she’s stressed and distracted preparing for her first photography opening. With her friend Martha and her new employee, Camilla, working to get the gallery set up, everything seems to be on track.
But when Annie stumbles on a body floating at the edge of Heron Lake, her worst fears are realized. Memories of her previous photography exhibit and the ensuing murder investigation come back to haunt her.
To make matters worse, the new detective in town points her finger at Annie right from their first meeting at the crime scene. Is this an ominous sign of what’s in store for Annie? With mysterious money disappearing and stolen jewelry showing up from thin air, a pre wedding dinner cruise and Martha’s on again/off again wedding, all is not what it seems.
Now Annie struggles to avoid being sucked into the mayhem. Will she be able to put her fears aside and figure out how to stay ahead of the killer?
RaspBuried Torte
When renovations on an old house in Catfish Cove take a turn for the worse, Annie finds herself at odds with the new detective in town. Again. Not only did Annie find the body, but Detective Christy Crank seems to have a chip on her shoulder that she takes out on Annie.
Rumors of hidden fortunes in the walls of the old house bring out treasure hunters in droves. Could one of them have killed to secure their own fortune? And if so, who was it?
As Annie digs deeper to clear the name of her friend, and Cranky’s top suspect, Danny Davis, she uncovers lies about alibis that only add more suspects to her list. Dreams of wealth make plenty of people look guilty, but who is the real murderer?