Red Velvet Cupcakes to Die For (A Liana Campbell Cozy Mystery Book 1)

by Alaine Allister

  When Luke finally glanced up and saw Liana’s face, he immediately stopped what he was doing.

  “What is it?” he demanded. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

  “It’s the weirdest thing,” she said in a low voice. “Reese showed up here unannounced and said he was going to fix my window, but I don’t think he’s done anything to it. I haven’t heard any hammering and I didn’t see any tools lying around.”

  “So what is he doing back there?”

  “Beats me. It looked like he was messing around on his phone.”

  Luke stood up, a concerned expression on his face. “That is weird,” he agreed. “I wonder why he would lie to you? Why is he even here? I’ve always had a bad feeling about him. I’m going to go find out what’s going on.”

  “No,” Liana protested, reaching out to stop him. “Let’s just go. Please?”

  Luke and Reese had nearly come to blows once already. She didn’t think there was any need for Luke to confront Reese. That sounded like another ugly battle waiting to happen.

  “You’re just going to leave Reese alone in here?” Luke asked skeptically.

  “Reese has a key,” Liana reminded him.

  “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

  Liana smirked. “He’s my employee. It’s pretty common to give employees keys to businesses, no? How else is Reese supposed to open up the shop on my days off?” she reasoned.

  Reluctantly, Luke nodded in agreement. “I guess. What do you think he’s up to?”

  “Maybe he got locked out of his house and is too embarrassed to admit it,” Liana theorized. Then she remembered that she had caught him looking at a GPS app on his phone. “Oh! I know. I bet he got lost. The snow probably made the whole town look different and he got disoriented.”

  “So why not ask for directions?” Luke countered. “That would be the reasonable thing to do.”

  “I agree. And I don’t know. Pride? This isn’t a big city. Reese has lived here long enough that he should know his way around by now. He might be feeling dumb for getting mixed up. Or maybe that old stereotype about men never wanting to ask for directions has some truth to it.”

  “That’s stupid,” Luke said with disgust. “If I was lost, I’d admit to it.”

  “Good.”

  “So you’re ready to go?” he asked.

  “Yeah.” Liana looked around. “Where did Fluffy go?”

  “I have no idea. He was here a second ago…”

  “Fluffy!” Liana called. “Here, Fluffy!”

  The cat was nowhere to be seen.

  “Should we look for him?” Luke asked.

  “I’m sure he’ll turn up. He likes to play hide and seek,” Liana explained. “Don’t be surprised if he jumps out at you from around a corner in a few minutes. It’s one of his favorite tricks. He thinks he’s really clever when he does it.”

  “As long as he doesn’t try to bite me again,” Luke replied wryly.

  “Just don’t put your hat on and you should be fine.” Liana reached for her parka. Then she glanced out the window. She grimaced at what she saw...or more accurately, what she didn’t see. “It looks like it’s getting worse out there,” she observed.

  Main Street was barely visible due to all the swirling snow outside.

  She was beginning to wonder if they were going to be snowed in for the night.

  “Bundle up,” Luke advised as Liana zipped up her parka. “It was starting to get really cold out there right around the time I came inside. Huh, come to think of it, maybe I should go start my truck. I probably need to scrape the windshield by now, too. I’ll be right back.”

  “Okay,” Liana replied gratefully.

  As she watched Luke leave the coffee shop, she couldn’t help but admire how tall he was. Had he always been that tall? She wasn’t sure, but one thing she did know was that his height suited him. Maybe he didn’t have Reese’s movie star good looks, but who cared?

  Luke was tall and thin, but no longer the gangly kid he had been in high school. Now he carried himself with quiet confidence. The braces he had worn as a teenager had left his teeth perfectly straight. His dark-rimmed glasses made him look a bit nerdy, but not in a bad way.

  Luke was a nerd. So what? Liana didn’t know what was so awful about that.

  Though it had taken her a while to notice, she realized Amy had been right. Luke was a terrific guy. He was a catch. Maybe he had been an ugly duckling years ago, but these days it seemed he had grown into his looks.

  More importantly, he was dependable, clever and kind.

  His awesome personality made him even more attractive.

  Where were her strange feelings coming from? Liana had friendzoned Luke years ago. She supposed it had been difficult to view him in a different light even after they had grown up. But now, suddenly, it was as though a switch had been flipped.

  “Oh, the deposit!” Liana suddenly remembered.

  Most nights when she was done work, she balanced the cash register, gathered up the day’s earnings and took them to the bank. It was right down the street and the ATM was available after hours, so why not?

  Tonight, there would be no bank visit. It was too treacherous outside to do any more driving than what was strictly necessary. Liana decided she would simply lock the cash register and deal with everything once the streets had been cleared.

  She walked over to the cash register and locked it.

  Then, on a whim, she unlocked it.

  She couldn’t explain why, but she felt the sudden urge to open up the drawer.

  When she pulled it out, her eyes nearly bugged out of her head.

  It was empty.

  Liana was left reeling. She was almost certain she had locked the door before walking to the police station. The coffee shop had been unlocked when she had returned, presumably because Reese had come in after she had left...

  Reese.

  He had turned up unannounced.

  He seemed to be jumpy, aloof and easily agitated.

  He had claimed he was there to fix a window, but he hadn’t brought any tools with him.

  Liana didn’t want to believe that her new employee had stolen from her, but the writing was on the wall. He had been in the shop alone, plus he was acting strange. He must have been the one who emptied out the cash register.

  Just like that, Liana’s optimism about her new employee was crushed.

  Her heart was heavy as she slammed the empty drawer shut. She decided she wasn’t going to confront Reese. Why go sniffing around for trouble? She was simply going to call the police and let them deal with him.

  “Crap,” Liana muttered under her breath.

  Her phone was still in the back room.

  “Why are you still here?” Reese asked gruffly, emerging from the back room.

  She jumped. “I’m leaving right away. Luke is out scraping his windshield as we speak,” she told him, suddenly feeling fearful. “He should be back any minute,” she added, secretly hoping she spoke the truth.

  Reese grunted in response. Then he noticed she was standing in front of the cash register. Maybe he also noticed her rigid, awkward posture and shaky hands. His eyes narrowed and he took a step closer.

  “What are you doing?” he demanded, his unwavering gaze burning into her.

  “I’m looking for my phone,” she fibbed. She knew exactly where it was. It was sitting on the counter in the back room, right next to the sink. “Have you seen it?” she asked, keeping her tone light.

  “No.”

  “Oh. Well I’m just going to go have a quick look in the kitchen,” she said.

  She wished she was a better actress. The more she tried to act natural, the less natural she seemed. She was as stiff as a board, her eye darting around nervously. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to tell that something was up.

  She hurried into the back room, wishing Reese would leave.

  But he didn’t. Instead, he followed her.

  Liana made a beeline fo
r the counter where she had last seen her phone. But she stopped in her tracks when she saw that it was no longer there. There wasn’t any doubt in her mind that Reese had taken it.

  “What’s the matter?” Reese asked quietly, standing uncomfortably close to her.

  “Nothing,” she said, backing away until she ran into the sink.

  Suddenly a very familiar tune began to play - and the music was coming from Reese’s jacket.

  Liana and Reese both froze. She had an embarrassing, all-encompassing love of 80s and 90s pop music. In fact, she adored songs that many people couldn’t stand. And she set her favorites as her ringtones.

  Her phone was obviously in Reese’s jacket pocket.

  As a singer began to wail about strutting on a catwalk, Liana tried to edge away from Reese.

  Suddenly he lunged at her.

  She shrieked and managed to wrench herself free from his grasp.

  In the struggle, something fell from his jacket pocket.

  They both paused and looked down.

  There on the floor was a lovely, expensive looking pearl necklace. The elegant piece of jewelry was rather distinctive looking. In fact, Liana immediately recognized it. It belonged to Barbara Norman.

  In that instant, Liana realized that Reese was the person who had been breaking into houses.

  And at the same moment it clicked for her, Reese seemed to sense that she was onto him.

  He made another attempt to grab her. Thankfully, he missed.

  Liana made a run for it, dashing to the front of the coffee shop. She nearly made it to the door, but Reese managed to grab ahold of her scarf. He grabbed it and yanked hard, causing Liana to lose her balance.

  Her feet went flying out from under her as she fell backwards, landing hard on her hip.

  There was no time to react. Reese tightened the scarf around her neck, squeezing until it constricted her airway. He did it with such ease, such calm. Liana attempted to fight him off, but it was no use. Even the simple act of breathing was now a struggle.

  “Don’t fight it,” Reese growled in her ear menacingly. He sounded like he was deriving some sort of sick pleasure from choking the life out of her. “That deliveryman fought, too. He tried to get free, kicking and thrashing. But he was no match for me. No one is. He lost that battle, just like you’re going to.”

  Just as Liana’s world was starting to go dark, she heard the familiar jingle of the bell above her door. Then she heard shouting. Reese was forced to release the scarf as Luke charged at him, tackling him. Liana gasped for air, coughing as she rolled over onto her side.

  Beside her, the two men fought.

  For a thin, nerdy guy, Luke was holding his own. He got in a few good punches before his glasses were knocked off. But as he and Reese continued to wrestle on the floor, it became apparent that Luke was fighting a losing battle.

  Reese was a muscular, heavily tattooed former construction worker.

  Luke was a sweet, mild-mannered academic who loved technology and astronomy.

  Reese was built for fighting.

  Luke wasn’t.

  Liana was still coughing, her eyes watering as she tried to catch her breath. She looked on in horror as Reese began to overtake Luke. She winced as her childhood friend took a hard blow to his abdomen.

  Luke clutched his stomach and fell to the floor, doubled over in agony.

  It hurt seeing Luke in pain. And Liana was furious at Reese for hurting him.

  She knew she had to do something - and fast.

  “That’s enough!” Liana hollered. “Stop!”

  But Reese wasn’t stopping.

  Now Luke was pinned on the floor. Reese seemed to be in a violent rage. Who knew how far he would take things before snapping out of it. Liana didn’t even want to think about it. After all, he had already killed once.

  Acting on instinct, Liana climbed to her feet. She felt unsteady, but she forced herself to put one foot in front of the other. She staggered over to the two men. She was able to grab Reese’s arm before he could hit Luke in the face.

  The move spared Luke from any further blows.

  Unfortunately, it also made Reese turn his attention back to Liana.

  With a menacing gleam in his eye, he advanced on her. She backed away, terror washing over her. Reese was bigger and stronger than her. He could really hurt her if he wanted to...maybe even kill her. And it seemed like that was exactly what he intended to do.

  Reese no longer looked handsome. In fact, he looked like a monster. His face was contorted in an ugly expression of pure evil. His eyes were cold and dead. He had blood dripping from his temple and his left cheek was already swelling from being hit.

  “You should have butted out,” Reese snarled as he neared Liana. “All I wanted was a little cash to tide me over. Then I was gonna leave town, never to be heard from again. No one else had to get hurt. But you just had to stick your nose where it didn’t belong, huh?”

  “It doesn’t have to end this way,” Liana told him, her voice surprisingly calm considering how frightened she was. “Don’t make it any worse than it already is, alright? Just stop.”

  “Ha!” Reese laughed bitterly. “And then what? Go back to prison? That’s not happening. Unfortunately for you, that means I can’t have any witnesses. Sorry, boss, but I’m going to have to take you out. The more you fight, the worse it’s going to be for you.”

  Liana couldn’t back up any further. Reese had her pinned against the wall. He reached out and wrapped his hands around her neck, clearly intending to strangle her. She tried to fight him off, but he overpowered her easily.

  “You small town idiots are all alike. Always too curious for your own good. Well you know what they say about curiosity, don’t you?”

  Suddenly Fluffy appeared out of nowhere. The little grey cat with the poofy tail soared through the air, his teeth bared and his claws extended. He looked like a fuzzy, miniature superhero. Well, either that or a very furry, peculiar-looking bird.

  Fluffy landed squarely on Reese’s back and immediately went into attack mode. He sank his claws right in without hesitation. Then the growling cat began to bite the killer’s right ear. The way the brave feline came to Liana’s defence was downright heroic.

  “Agh!” Reese bellowed in pain.

  Fluffy, it seemed, wasn’t such a fearless hero after all.

  The yelling startled the cat, who immediately stopped attacking. Before Reese could swat at his whiskered assailant, Fluffy jumped to the ground. He skedaddled to the far side of the room and disappeared beneath a table.

  “Stupid cat,” Reese muttered as he wiped blood from his neck. “There must be something in the water because everyone in this lame town is stupid. Especially you. I tried to get rid of you. I wasn’t planning to hurt you. But you couldn’t take a hint, could you?”

  Liana’s eyes were locked on Reese’s.

  He seemed to be enjoying himself. He had an evil gleam in his eye as he taunted her.

  “You should have minded your own business!” Reese sneered.

  He was so busy talking that he didn’t notice she had grabbed a frying pan. As he advanced on Liana yet again, she brought the heavy metal apparatus down on his head. There was a loud, hollow thud as it connected with his skull.

  “Just Desserts is my business!” Liana retorted angrily as Reese fell to the floor, unconscious.

  Chapter 19

  “You’ve had a busy night, haven’t you?” Sam remarked as he walked over to Liana.

  “So have you,” she replied. “Are you almost finished here?”

  “Yeah, but my night isn’t over. I’m going to have a lot of paperwork to do at the station.”

  “I thought you were supposed to be off tonight?”

  “I was. But then I heard there was a situation underway. I thought it best I clock back in and take charge rather than trust one of my idiot co-workers to handle things. Don’t tell anyone I said that.”

  “My lips are sealed,” Liana promised.r />
  She was grateful Sam was there. Most of the other police officers in town seemed to be lazy, incompetent dummies. Even though he could be a bit of a stick in the mud at times, Sam was a good, capable cop.

  “The EMTs tell me you gave Reese a concussion,” Sam remarked, sounding impressed.

  “Did I? Everything happened so fast…”

  “So I’ve heard. You had a rough night, huh? I’m glad you’re not hurt,” he said.

  “Thanks,” she replied, touched and a bit surprised by his uncharacteristic niceness.

  “If you had died, I may have never gotten my lucky hat back,” Sam said, plucking the black woolen hat from Liana’s head. “My ears were freezing on the way over here!” he complained as he put it on.

  Sam was probably trying to lighten the mood after a long and stressful evening. But Liana wasn’t really in the mood for joking. Something was making her anxious.

  She peered past Sam.

  All she could see out the window was red and blue flashing lights. An ambulance was parked out front, along with Sam’s squad car. Off in the distance, she could see the town’s sole snow plow dutifully clearing the streets.

  The storm was over. Now all that was left was crisp, clean snow.

  It would have been beautiful had all the chaos not distracted from it.

  “How is he?” Liana demanded anxiously.

  Sam smirked. “Like I said, he has a concussion. He gave us a full confession, but we still need to iron out some details once he recovers. He’s going to spend tonight under observation at Green City Hospital. You did a number on him with that frying pan. Remind me not to make you angry!”

  “Not Reese!” Liana interjected impatiently. “I was asking about Luke! How is Luke?”

  “Oh,” Sam replied. Then a knowing look came over his face. “Oh!” he said again with a grin. “Why don’t you go see for yourself? I think the EMT is almost done checking him out.”

  Liana hurried out the door toward the ambulance. Her parka was wide open and she seemed to have misplaced her gloves, but she barely even noticed the cold. She was far too preoccupied for that. All she cared about in that moment was Luke’s well-being.

  Right as Liana reached the ambulance, Luke climbed out of the back.