Choc Churro Murder: A Donut Hole Cozy Mystery - Book 25

by Susan Gillard

  “Gee, that imbues me with so much enthusiasm,” Amy replied, and rubbed her upper arms. Poor woman hadn’t even taken off her coat, yet. Then again, neither had Heather.

  She placed her hand on the doorknob, turned it sharply and stepped into her office, Taser at the ready.

  Heather’s jaw dropped.

  “What is it?” Amy hissed.

  “Not again.” Heather could barely form the words.

  Her office chair lay on the floor. The desk drawers stood open, and one teetered on the edge of oblivion – a short fall to the boards below it. Papers lay on the floor, strewn across the room from left to right. The filing cabinet had been emptied out.

  “Heather?”

  “Come in here,” she replied. “I don’t believe this.”

  Amy barreled into the office, then pulled up short and let out a dramatic gasp which suited the situation perfectly for once. “No,” she groaned. “Not again.”

  “I don’t understand,” Heather said. “I armed the alarm last night. There are sensors in this room. They should’ve picked up if someone had broken in.” She walked around to the other side of the desk and glass crunched beneath her thick-soled biker boots.

  “That sensor?” Amy asked, and pointed to the one in the corner. It didn’t flash its merry red light. “It looks like it’s broken or disabled or something.”

  “Ugh,” Heather said and fisted her forehead. “I should’ve checked that.”

  “Don’t be so hard on yourself,” Amy replied. “You couldn’t have known. And besides, people shouldn’t break into places alarm or not.”

  Heather didn’t reply but walked to her desk. The area seemed to be the focus of the burglary. Thank heavens she’d taken her laptop home the night before. “The recipe book,” she said.

  “It’s missing again?!” Amy grasped at her throat.

  “No. I moved it after the last time. It’s at home in my safe.” Heather sighed and scraped her fingers across her forehead. “But I bet that’s what they came for.”

  “And that means it was probably Geoff,” Amy replied.

  “Or Kate.”

  The Donut Delights bell tinkled. “Hello? Boss?” Maricela’s voice echoed through the front of the store.

  “We’re in here, Maricela,” Heather called out.

  The young woman hurried to the office. She froze then doorway. “Hijole!” She gasped.

  “I know, right?” Amy shook her head. “I’m calling the police. This is getting ridiculous, Heather. We can’t have a moment’s peace in this store without some idiot breaking in and ruining the place.”

  Heather dropped her arm to her side, and the Taser clacked against her jeans. “Yeah, call Ryan please, Ames.”

  “You okay, boss?” Maricela asked and hurried to her side. She slipped her arm around Heather’s shoulder and squeezed her tight.

  “I’ve been better,” Heather replied. “But I’ve also been worse. I’m okay.” Heather returned Maricela’s hug, then guided the young woman out into the store. “Regardless, we’ll have to carry on with business as usual.”

  Amy stood behind the counter, her cell pressed to her ear.

  “We can’t lose sleep or work over attempted sabotage,” Heather said.

  “Nothing hold us down,” Maricela agreed.

  Heather’s stomach twisted anyway. Geoff Lawless usually pulled benign tricks, nothing like this. Or had he?

  Her sleuthin’ sense tingled. This was linked to the case somehow. It had to be.

  Chapter 10

  Heather Shepherd had had enough.

  Break-ins, murders, her recipe book stolen, and even a threat to the sanctity of her own home.

  “Enough is enough,” she growled. Heather got out of her car and marched up to the front door of Geoff Lawless’ dingy home.

  Evening had settled on Hillsides. A cool purple cloak to quash the energy of a surprisingly warm Fall day. Leaves rustled across the garden path behind her, but none of it worked to soothe Heather’s frazzled nerves.

  She knocked on the front door, then grasped her coat and tugged it tight around her body.

  Footsteps echoed down the hall. Latches snapped back, and the door creaked inward.

  Geoff Lawless stared at her, pale as a doughy ball of fondant. “Shepherd,” he croaked.

  “Enough is enough,” Heather said and glared back at him. “My store was broken into this morning. What do you have to say about that?”

  He shook his head and his lips thinned into a white line.

  “Nothing to say? Then you don’t deny that you were involved?” Heather took deep breaths to calm her anger. She couldn’t scream at the man. She might be on her last nerve, but it was no excuse to blow her top at the guy.

  “I did it,” Geoff replied.

  Shock radiated from Heather’s chest, outward to the tips of her fingers and her toes. She shivered and gritted her teeth. “For the recipes?”

  Geoff nodded once. “Yeah.”

  “Why, Geoff?” Heather asked. “You know it didn’t work before. And you know that it’s only going to get you into more trouble with the cops. Why would you do this?”

  Geoff’s shoulders stiffened. His eyes grew glossy. “Because my sister is worse than the cops,” he said, at last. Actual tears sat at the corners of his eyelids.

  “Oh gosh,” Heather whispered. She reached out and patted him on the shoulder, and awkward attempt at comforting him at best.

  Geoff’s outside light clicked on, and Heather squinted in the resultant glare.

  “She’s – I shouldn’t tell you, she’ll find out about it,” Geoff grunted. He raised his fists and knuckled his eyes.

  “You can tell me, Geoff. No one will hear a word of what passes between us.” It was a promise she intended to keep unless the information shared pertained to the case.

  Geoff shuddered out a breath. “She’s a bully.” His words gained clarity. For this first time since they’d met, Geoff Lawless raised his chin and enunciated. “I hate my sister. She’s bullied me and my brother since we were kids and made us feel like we owe her everything.”

  “Go on,” Heather said. “I’m here. I’m listening.” She kept her arms at her sides and an open mind and heart. The poor guy had been driven to extremes. She owed him her ear.

  “Kate wants to bring you down, Heather,” Geoff said.

  “What?!” She placed her hand to her lips, then dropped it again. “Why? Why would she care about me?”

  “She mentioned you a lot before I came to Hillside. She doesn’t like you. I think she’s jealous of you,” Geoff replied. He gulped down a breath, then looked up and down the darkening road. “She said that you didn’t deserve some guy named Don.”

  Don Yager. Heather’s ex-husband. She’d always carried the suspicion that Kate Laverne had a crush on him, even though she’d been married at the time.

  “Then Kate’s husband died, and she told me I had to move here,” Geoff replied.

  “Kate’s husband is dead?” Heather asked, and a second wave of shock assaulted her.

  Two dead men in the span of how long?

  “Yeah, he died in a car crash,” Geoff replied.

  This was unbelievable. It was a scene from a villainous fairy tale. Heather had worked on countless cases, okay, approximately twenty-five last she checked, but she’d never become accustomed to dealings with folks like Kate.

  Folks who thought it was okay to step on heads to get what they wanted.

  “So you set up the store to mess with me,” Heather said.

  Geoff nodded. “She wanted you to fail.”

  “Oh gosh.” This was a lot to take. “Geoff I came here expecting you to deny this, not admit it. But, you know what, I’m not going to press charges for this.”

  Geoff’s shoulders relaxed. “Thank you,” he grunted.

  Heather couldn’t summon up any other emotion except sympathy for poor Lawless. His strange behavior clicked into place in her mind. The desperate attempts to mimic her.
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  Spying on her home and her cases. Every move he’d made had been motivated out of fear for a woman who despised Heather.

  And she’d had no idea.

  Sheesh, she was some investigator.

  “Heather,” he said. The first time he’d used her first name, as far as she could recall. “She got in a fight with Kenny before he died.”

  “Say what now?”

  “Yeah. It was right after we left your store. We went to a meeting with him, and he ripped up contract papers in front of her. She was so angry. I’ve never seen her that angry before.” Geoff reached up and tugged at the loose collar of his shirt.

  “What happened next?” Heather asked, and her heart skipped a beat. Could Geoff provide the answers she sought?

  “Nothing,” he replied. “We left, but Kate wouldn’t stop screaming at Charles. Or me.”

  Heather patted Geoff on the shoulder one last time. “Thank you, Geoff. This has been very helpful. I – man, I don’t know what to say. I’m sorry you’ve been through so much in such a short time.”

  Geoff met her gaze. “I’m sorry too,” he said. “I won’t let Kate boss me around anymore.”

  “Stay safe, Geoff.”

  Chapter 11

  Amy squished against the seat in Heather’s car and squinted at the Summers’ mansion.

  The golden gate glinted by the light of decorative lampshades along the concrete path and a few lights clicked on upstairs.

  “It’s late,” Amy said. “It’s real late. We’ve got to get to work tomorrow.”

  “I’ve never seen you this antsy before, Ames.” Heather couldn’t keep the humor from her tone.

  “I’m not antsy. You’re antsy,” Amy said, then gulped. “Okay, so late night murderer watch freaks me out a little. I’ll admit it.”

  “It’s not even that late,” Heather replied, and kept her gaze focused on the Summers’ front gate. “It’s eight, Ames. Not midnight.”

  “What about Lilly? She can’t be home alone.”

  “Ryan’s with Lilly and Dave at home.” Heather laughed this time. A low wheeze to block the noise from traveling out of the window she’d opened a crack. “You know that. You said goodnight to Lilly and Dave and pecked them both on the forehead.”

  Amy fell silent but fiddled with the glove compartment latch. “Why are we here, again?”

  “Because Geoff told me that his sister had a fight with Kenny and that Kenny was a bully. And I get the feeling that Kate is up to something. I want to see where she goes at night. What she does. If she’s meeting with a secret backer. You know, standard investigative stuff.”

  “Standard terrifying stuff,” Amy said.

  “Oh, grow a backbone,” Heather whispered, but she kept her tone light. She loved her bestie, quirks, fears and all.

  “Easy for you to say. You didn’t trip over a corpse on Halloween.” Amy unhooked her seatbelt and fiddled with the metal bit on the end.

  “That sounds like a movie title,” Heather replied. “Oh, something’s happening. Get down!”

  The large gate to the driveway swung inward and a car backed out of the driveway. A flashy, bright red Audi with thick, glossed out rims.

  “That doesn’t look like Kate’s kind of car,” Heather said and sank low.

  Amy followed her lead but didn’t comment.

  “No, not at all. Kate’s got less flair than that.”

  The Audi cruised past, and Heather peeked at the windows, but they were all tinted. The car cruised to the end of the road and turned on its indicators. It took a right and disappeared.

  Amy sighed. “Well, that’s over –”

  Heather started the engine and spun into the road, then roared toward the end of it.

  Amy yelped. “You’ve lost your marbles woman.”

  “But I won’t lose that car,” Heather replied. She took the corner then slowed and followed the Audi from a distance.

  The red car couldn’t be missed. It stood out amongst the normal culprits in Hillside. The Mazda’s, Hondas and Hyundai’s couldn’t compare.

  Five minutes later, the Audi parked in front of Dos Chicos. Heather and Ryan’s favorite haunt.

  Heather parked a few spaces behind it, and the women sank in their seats again.

  The driver’s side door opened, and Charles Lawless stepped into the night. He brushed off a flashy suit, then shut the door behind him and walked around to the passenger’s side of the vehicle.

  “This is fascinating,” Amy whispered. “I can’t not look at.”

  “I know, right?”

  Charles opened the passenger’s door, and a single Louboutin shoe appeared, followed by another. Charles offered his hand, and a slender one took it.

  Georgia Summers emerged from the car, clad in a floaty, shimmering dress of purple.

  “She’s magnificent,” Amy breathed. “I mean, this is interesting for the case, but just look at her. She walks on rainbows.”

  “Crushes them underfoot with those shoes,” Heather replied.

  “You do not crush things in Louboutin’s,” Amy said. “You do not do any kind of stomping in Louboutin’s.”

  “Excuse me, fashionista.”

  The duo walked toward the restaurant, arm-in-arm, then disappeared inside.

  “Seems kind of dressed up for Dos Chicos, if you ask me,” Heather said, then clunked open her car door.

  “Oh, we’re going in,” Amy said. “Of course, we’re going in. I should’ve seen this coming.”

  “Quiet down, woman or our next stop will be the graveyard.”

  That silenced Amy’s groans.

  They hurried toward the front door of the restaurant, and Heather’s heart leaped into her throat. Why on earth would Georgia meet with Charles?

  Heather opened the door to the restaurant, and a wave of salsa music washed over her. Rhythm pounded through her muscles, but she resisted the urge to bob along to the music. Instead, she slipped inside and took a seat at one of the booths closest to the door.

  Glamorous Georgia and her pudding bowl haircut buddy sat a few tables away, facing the stage. Georgia giggled about something. Charles didn’t reply.

  His face rivaled a thundercloud during monsoon season.

  “What’s with this guy?” Amy asked, and jerked her head toward the oldest Lawless brother. “He looks like someone stole his donut.”

  “You’d look like that too if you had to wear your hair like that,” Heather replied, she snapped her mouth shut. “That was mean. I shouldn’t have said that.”

  Amy danced along to the music, then waved a waiter over. “While we’re here, you know, we could get some nachos. Enchiladas? Maybe a margarita?”

  Heather didn’t reply.

  The music swelled, and folks danced and clapped in time to it. She couldn’t make out a word of Georgia’s conversation.

  “Ugh,” Heather muttered. “Stay here,” she said, to her bestie.

  Amy gave her a thumbs up. “You got it, boss. I’ll be here, eating if you need me.”

  Heather rolled her eyes, then slipped out of the booth and walked toward Georgia’s table.

  She sat down at one of those just behind it, and edged her chair around so her back faced them.

  “You’re quiet,” Georgia said.

  Charles didn’t reply.

  The music continued. Guitar thrummed in Heather’s ears. The singer crooned, and the beat thundered along, all accompanied by the scent of delicious Mexican cuisine.

  Heather inched closer again, and her chair scraped along the wooden boards. She winced and held still.

  “Talk to me, Charles. What’s going on?” Georgia asked, and concern entered her tone.

  Heather could ask them both the same question. What was going on?

  Chapter 12

  “Talk to me, Charles,” Georgia said, again. Irritation seeped through, this time. “Oh for heaven’s sake. Do you have to be such a brick all the time? Open up for once.”

  “I don’t want to talk,” Char
les Lawless replied, in a guttural grunt. “I want to eat my dinner and go home.”

  “I don’t understand why you arranged this meeting if you’re not going to talk to me,” Georgia said.

  Heather turned her head and caught a glimpse of the pair in her peripheral vision.

  Georgia flicked her long hair back and flashed her diamond tennis bracelet in the process. “You know, I have other meetings to attend.”

  So, this wasn’t a date. It was a business meeting.

  “Curious,” Heather muttered. Why would Georgia meet with Charles over dinner for business? Could it be that Charles was the brains behind Kate Laverne’s donut operation?

  Heather restrained a snort. Kate Laverne wouldn’t relinquish her hold on anything, least of all a business.

  No, this had to be some other kind of business meeting. Perhaps, it had nothing to do with Delightful Donuts.

  “I’m going to leave,” Georgia said and made to stand up.

  Charles slapped his hand down on the table, and Summers jolted back into her seat.

  “What is the meaning of –?”

  “You don’t leave until I say you can leave,” Charles growled.

  Uh oh. Somebody had a bad temper. Heather blinked and stained to see more of the pair, but a flash of movement caught her focus.

  She turned back to the front, and Amy waved from the table a couple of feet away.

  “The fern is coming,” she mouthed.

  “What?” Heather cupped her hand to her ear and shook her head.

  “The fern!” Amy mouthed, again.

  Heather waved her hands to fend off her bestie’s attempt at miming, then turned her head again.

  Her heart sank into the bottom of her left shoe.

  Kate Laverne stood to the left of her table, arms crossed and high heeled boot tap-tap-tapping on the wooden floorboards. “Well,” she said, above the music. “Fancy meeting you here.”

  Uh oh. So, Georgia’s meeting wasn’t scheduled with Charles alone.

  Kate Laverne swept toward Heather’s table, then lowered herself into the seat directly beside Heather. “I should’ve expected you to turn up here,” Kate said and forced a smile.

  Heather restrained a shiver. It took a lot of effort. She glanced over at her bestie, but Amy had sunk down behind a menu to hide her face.