“I took the liberty of relieving your gun of its bullets,” Ramona said.
Lexy saw Eddie’s face turn hard and he squeezed the trigger. Lexy flinched but the gun only made a dull clicking sound. Ramona really had removed the bullets.
“I figured that with Stu out of the way, I might as well keep the profits for myself,” Ramona said.
“How are you going to do that?” Eddie asked.
“That’s easy.” Ramona gestured with her gun for Eddie to stand next to Lexy. “It turns out you couldn’t live without Lexy … couldn’t stand to see her marry another man.”
“What?” Lexy asked. “No one is going to believe that—we didn’t even know each other until two days ago.”
“Oh, they’ll believe it.” Ramona snickered. “Especially once they get the letter Eddie sent to you saying that if he can’t have you no one can, and begging you to meet him here.”
Lexy remembered the strange letter she’d found in the previous night’s mail and her stomach churned. Had Ramona really gone that far?
“Oh, and if they don’t believe that, wait until they find your panties at Eddie’s house and his necklace at yours.”
Eddie looked down at his chest. “So that’s where my necklace went—you took it!”
Ramona nodded.
“Wait. How’d you get my panties?”
“It was me that broke into your house,” Ramona said proudly.
“You broke into my house to steal my panties?” Lexy stared at Ramona incredulously.
“Actually I broke in to get the dress, the panty stealing was just extra,” Ramona said. “And, of course, I took the opportunity to plant the necklace.”
“Now, all I have to do is make it look like Eddie killed you, then turned the gun on himself.” Ramona shrugged. “Stuff like that happens all the time. And since I left the video tapes showing Eddie and Stu stealing that scepter at the Telbourne, the police will be so happy to catch their thieves and the killer they won’t even look any further … and I’ll be on my way to Rio with the diamonds.”
“You won’t get away with this you dirty rotten scoundrel!” Lexy yelled the code words that Davies had given her.
Ramona shoved her into a corner and lifted the gun, the barrel pointing right at Lexy.
Lexy squeezed her eyes shut and covered her ears just before she heard a deafening bang.
***
“Hold it right there!” Lexy heard Davies yell. She opened one eye in time to see Ramona whirl around just as the Brooke Ridge Falls Police Department swarmed the room.
Before she could even get her other eye open, Davies had Ramona face down on the floor and was slapping handcuffs on her. John Darling was doing the same to Eddie. And Jack was scooping her up into his arms.
“Are you okay?” Lexy melted at the concern in his honey brown eyes.
Lexy nodded then tore herself out of his arms.
“Sprinkles!” She yelled, pointing to the corner the dog was in. Jack followed her over and they released the dog, all three of them falling into a group hug. Lexy scooped up Sprinkles and they walked back over to the group in time to hear Davies finish reading Eddie his rights.
“What took you guys so long to come in?” Lexy asked. “Did I get the code words wrong?”
“No, you got them right.” Davies face flushed and she pulled on a piece of matted hair near her ear. “I got gum in my hair and must have missed hearing the signal at first.”
Lexy raised a brow at Jack who shrugged.
“Well the important thing is that the killers are captured and now we can get married without any worries,” he said draping his arm around Lexy’s shoulders.
“Yeah, and now your new detective knows that I’m not a killer.” Lexy stared at Davies.
“Oh, I knew you weren’t the killer right from the get-go,” Davies said. “I was just having some fun with you. Plus I wanted you and your grandmother to continue investigating—made my job a lot easier. Having you track down those leads was like having another team of detectives.”
“So we helped you solve the case?” Nans asked from the doorway.
“Yes Ms. Baker, you sure did.” Davies walked over to the doorway and gave Nans a hug. Lexy wondered when Nans had gotten so friendly with Davies.
“Umm … that should be cases, shouldn’t it?” Lexy said.
“That’s right. You helped catch the people who stole the scepter from the museum and the killer of Stu, Philippe and Veronica,” Jack said.
“Which reminds me.” Davies looked at Lexy. “I’m going to need the real wedding dress. That thing has over five million dollars’ worth of diamonds on it.”
Lexy’s stomach clenched. “My wedding dress?”
“Yep.” Davies nodded. “It’s evidence.”
“But I’m getting married tomorrow, and I don’t have anything else to wear!”
Chapter Twenty Three
Lexy stood at the altar facing Jack, her heart flooding with warmth at the loving look in his honey brown eyes. So far, everything had gone off without a hitch even though she’d almost missed her own rehearsal dinner the night before.
This morning, she’d arrived in her pink limo to find the church smothered in flowers and overflowing with guests. She’d had a few last minute jitters, which Cassie helped soothe and she’d had to fight back tears when her father walked her down the aisle and handed her over to Jack. But otherwise, everything was perfect.
And here she stood, next to Jack, in her five million dollar wedding gown.
Lexy glanced out at the guests. Her parents and Jack’s parents sat in the front row proudly. Even Detective Davies had shown up and was sitting right up front in the second row. Lexy shot her a quick smile—the detective proved that she did have a heart when she let Lexy wear the wedding dress on the condition that she hand it over right after the wedding.
Lexy’s smile faltered as she pictured Davies trying to rip the dress off her as soon as the reception ended. Davies did look cute though, in a tan suit with matching tan suede shoes. Lexy did a double take at the shoes.
Were those Jimmy Choo’s?
Lexy leaned forward, to get a better look at Davies’ shoes.
Was that a bloodstain on one of them? And if it was, how did Davies get her other shoe?
She frowned up at Davies who smiled and gave her a quick wink then brushed the leaf that Lexy mistook for a bloodstain from the tip of her shoe. Apparently, they had the same taste in shoes.
“Ahem … Miss Baker?” The minister’s voice caught her attention.
Lexy straightened and whipped her head back toward the minister. “Oh sorry. What?”
The minister looked back down at his book. “I was saying … Do you take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband?”
Did she?
Lexy’s heart fluttered in her chest as she suddenly realized the enormous commitment she was about to make.
She tried to picture them growing old together. What would that life be like? Did she want to spend the rest of her life with Jack?
Lexy looked over at Jack, then at the minister, then at all her guests. When she looked back at Jack again, she knew the answer.
She turned to the minister and said …
“I do!”
Epilogue
“I guess there really is no honor among thieves,” Nans said as she placed her coffee on the café table, pulled out a chair and sat down.
“Guess not.” Lexy shrugged—she was still on a high from their wedding the day before and even the thought of the three murders couldn’t dampen her spirits. Everything had gone perfectly at the reception and Cassie’s cake had been both gorgeous and delicious. She had to admit she’d been a little nervous wearing the five million dollar gown and was glad to finally hand it over to Davies.
Now, sitting at the café tables at The Cup and Cake with her best friends and family, everything was perfect.
“I don’t really understand how it all happened.” Vera, in a bright turq
uoise and lime green outfit sat at the next table munching on a cinnamon roll.
“Stu, Ramona and Eddie planned the heist,” Jack said. “Stu and Eddie arranged it so that they were the security detail at night and Ramona worked in the control room where they stored the videos from the security cameras. She removed the section of video that showed Stu and Eddie taking the scepter and replaced it with a section of tape from earlier but changed the time stamps.”
“So it looked like the scepter was there one minute and then gone the next,” Nans added.
“Then they took the diamonds out of the scepter and Stu paid Philippe to have them sewn into Veronica’s gown,” John added. “Philippe’s business wasn’t doing well and I guess he took the money to try to save it.”
“It was almost perfect, except Millie switched the gowns by mistake during one of the fittings,” Nans said as she nibbled her éclair.
“And Stu got greedy, so Eddie and Ramona decided to cut him out,” Jack added. “That was Ramona that had the fight with Stu that day.”
“Eddie killed Stu and then went to get the gown,” John said. “I think Eddie expected Chez Philippe to be empty because the store is usually closed at that time, but when he got there, he found Philippe and Veronica—he shot them and took Veronica’s gown, which was actually the wrong one,” Jack went over to the self-serve coffee station to refill his cup.
“So, it was Eddie that broke into Chez Philippe the next night?” Lexy asked.
“Yes, at first we assumed the break-in was to cover up something about the murder, but he was actually looking for the stones. That’s why he ransacked the sewing area.”
Cassie narrowed her eyes. “So the whole time, Ramona was making plans to double-cross Eddie?”
“Yep.” John nodded. “She’d already gotten him to do the killings, so all she had to do was make off with the stones, but when they discovered Eddie took the wrong gown, that screwed up her plan.”
“And she knew I had a gown almost identical to Veronica’s because she saw us that day at the fitting,” Lexy said.
“Plus, she also knew you were doing some investigating,” Nans added. “So once she figured out you had the dress with the real diamonds, she broke in to steal it from your house.”
“Except it wasn’t at Lexy’s,” Vera said. “I had it in the RV that we were driving around town in on that day.”
“Right.” Nans spooned some sugar into her coffee. “So, Ramona took the opportunity to plant the necklace she’d stolen from Eddie earlier and steal Lexy’s red lace panties.”
Lexy felt her cheeks grow warm. “Then later she planted the panties at Eddie’s and wrote the fake note that she mailed to my house.”
“We found those panties under Eddie’s bed.” Jack wiggled his eyebrows at Lexy whose cheeks got even warmer.
“And I think Eddie must have been working a plan to double-cross Ramona too,” Nans said. “The few times we talked to him he kept trying to insinuate that Ramona was acting strange—he was trying to point us in her direction.”
“And apparently he didn’t tell Ramona he’d taken the dress … not until after he discovered the stones weren’t diamonds and he needed her help,” John added.
“Well I’m just glad everything worked out, the case got solved, we got married and tomorrow we get to leave on our tropical honeymoon.” Lexy smiled at Jack.
“Well, it’s too bad you won’t be around to see the new bakery go in across the street.” Nans looked at the empty storefront almost directly across from The Cup and Cake.
Lexy froze. “What bakery?”
“Oh, you didn’t hear?” Nans asked. “Someone is putting a bakery in just like The Cup and Cake right across the street. Isn’t that stupid?”
Lexy looked out the window. It did look like someone was getting ready to move in to that empty store. But who would put a bakery right across from another bakery?
Cassie got up and stood right at the window squinting at the store. “It is stupid … and it looks like they are painting it pink … just like we have in here.”
Lexy felt her heart squeeze. Another bakery just like hers? She didn’t think she liked that idea much.
Jack squeezed her hand and caught her attention reminding her that she had more important things going on right now. She squeezed back, and felt a rush of excitement thinking of the two weeks she was going to spend with Jack in a tropical paradise.
She took one more quick look out the window and decided a new bakery across the street wasn’t that important. She had better things to focus on … at least for now.
The End.
***
Want to read about more of Lexy’s and Nans’ adventures? Get the rest of the Lexy Baker series for your Kindle:
Killer Cupcakes
Dying For Danish
Murder, Money and Marzipan
3 Bodies and a Biscotti
Brownies, Bodies & Bad Guys
Bake, Battle & Roll
A Note From The Author
Thanks so much for reading my cozy mystery “Wedded Blintz”. I hope you liked reading it as much as I loved writing it. If you did, and feel inclined to leave a review over at Amazon, I really would appreciate it.
This is book seven of the Lexy Baker series, you can find the rest of the books on my website, or over at Amazon if you want to read more of Lexy’s and Nans’s adventures.
Also, if you like cozy mysteries, you might like my book “Dead Wrong” which is book one in the Blackmoore Sisters series. Set in the seaside town of Noquitt Maine, the Blackmoore sisters will take you on a journey of secrets, romance and maybe even a little magic. I have an excerpt from it at the end of this book.
This book has been through many edits with several people and even some software programs, but since nothing is infallible (even the software programs) you might catch a spelling error or mistake and, if you do, I sure would appreciate it if you let me know - you can contact me at [email protected].
Oh, and I love to connect with my readers so please do visit me on facebook at http://www.facebook.com/leighanndobbsbooks or at my website http://www.leighanndobbs.com.
Are you signed up to get notifications of my latest releases and special contests? Go to: http://www.leighanndobbs.com/newsletter and enter your email address to signup - I promise never to share it and I only send emails every couple of weeks so I won’t fill up your inbox.
About The Author
Leighann Dobbs discovered her passion for writing after a twenty year career as a software engineer. She lives in New Hampshire with her husband Bruce, their trusty Chihuahua mix Mojo and beautiful rescue cat, Kitty. When she’s not reading, gardening or selling antiques, she likes to write romance and cozy mystery novels and novelettes which are perfect for the busy person on the go.
Find out about her latest books and how to get discounts on them by signing up at:
http://www.leighanndobbs.com/newsletter
Connect with Leighann on Facebook and Twitter
http://facebook.com/leighanndobbsbooks
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***
More Books By Leighann Dobbs
Lexy Baker
Cozy Mystery Series
* * *
Killer Cupcakes
Dying For Danish
Murder, Money and Marzipan
3 Bodies and a Biscotti
Brownies, Bodies & Bad Guys
Bake, Battle & Roll
-------
Blackmoore Sisters
Cozy Mystery Series
* * *
Dead Wrong
Dead & Buried
Dead Tide
-------
Contemporary
Romance
* * *
Sweet Escapes
Reluctant Romance
-------
Dobbs “Fancytales”
Regency Romance Fairytales Series
* * *
Something In Red
Snow White and the Seven Rogues
Dancing On Glass
The Beast of Edenmaine
***
Excerpt From Dead Wrong:
Morgan Blackmoore tapped her finger lightly on the counter, her mind barely registering the low buzz of voices behind her in the crowded coffee shop as she mentally prioritized the tasks that awaited her back at her own store.
“Here you go, one yerba mate tea and a vanilla latte.” Felicity rang up the purchase, as Morgan dug in the front pocket of her faded denim jeans for some cash which she traded for the two paper cups.
Inhaling the spicy aroma of the tea, she turned to leave, her long, silky black hair swinging behind her. Elbowing her way through the crowd, she headed toward the door. At this time of morning, the coffee shop was filled with locals and Morgan knew almost all of them well enough to exchange a quick greeting or nod.
Suddenly a short, stout figure appeared, blocking her path. Morgan let out a sharp breath, recognizing the figure as Prudence Littlefield.
Prudence had a long running feud with the Blackmoore’s which dated back to some sort of run-in she’d had with Morgan’s grandmother when they were young girls. As a result, Prudence loved to harass and berate the Blackmoore girls in public. Morgan’s eyes darted around the room, looking for an escape route.
“Just who do you think you are?” Prudence demanded, her hands fisted on her hips, legs spaced shoulder width apart. Morgan noticed she was wearing her usual knee high rubber boots and an orange sunflower scarf.
Morgan’s brow furrowed over her ice blue eyes as she stared at the older woman’s prune like face.
“Excuse me?”
“Don’t you play dumb with me Morgan Blackmoore. What kind of concoction did you give my Ed? He’s been acting plumb crazy.”
Morgan thought back over the previous week’s customers. Ed Littlefield had come into her herbal remedies shop, but she’d be damned if she’d announce to the whole town what he was after.
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