by Jessica Beck
“I’m not sure that there’s anything we can do right now,” I said. “I say we get together tomorrow after the donut shop closes and see what we can learn about Rick Hastings on our own. Do you think you can get away from work a little early?”
“I don’t see why not,” she said with a smile. “Sometimes I just love being the boss.” Grace hesitated a moment, and then she added, “Frankly, I’m kind of surprised that you’re opening Donut Hearts tomorrow at all. You realize that you can’t count on Emma to come in, don’t you?” After another moment, she added, “I could always take a sick day and help out if you’re that desperate.”
I knew what a sacrifice it would be for my best friend to get up so early, so I appreciated the gesture more than I could express. “No worries. I can manage just fine on my own. Don’t forget, I run the shop one day a week by myself on Emma’s day off, so I can certainly handle the shop tomorrow solo.”
“What if she doesn’t make it back the next day, either?”
“Grace, I can go it alone as long as I need to,” I said. “Obviously I’d rather have Emma with me, but until she feels ready to get back to work, I’m going to do it all myself.”
“Suzanne, you’re a good employer, but you’re an even better friend,” Grace said as we started to walk through the park toward the cottage where I lived.
“Well, I try to be,” I said as we neared my front porch. “Would you like to come in for a few minutes before you head down the road?”
Grace shook her head. “Thanks for the invitation, but you need your sleep. I’ll see you tomorrow morning at eleven thirty.”
“That sounds great. Good night.”
“Night,” she replied as she headed down the road, taking the three dozen steps to her own home. It had been wonderful having my best friend living so close when we’d been growing up, but I loved it even more now. Apart from my time being married to Max, I’d lived at the cottage all of my life, and up until fairly recently, I’d been there with my mother. Nothing lasts forever, though, and she’d moved across town to start over when she’d married the police chief, so now I lived on my own.
I probably should have eaten something healthy when I got home, but I was exhausted, both from the murder and from doing another session of donutmaking in the evening. Instead of preparing something nutritious, I ended up grabbing a quick bite of the apple pie that Momma had brought over the day before that was now in my fridge, and as I was pouring a glass of milk to go with it, my cellphone rang.
“Hey, Jake,” I said as my weariness suddenly vanished, happy to know that my fiancé had been thinking about me and had been able to get away long enough to call. “How are things going on the coast?”
“It’s complicated,” Jake said, and I could hear the exhaustion in his voice.
“I still can’t believe that your boss is making you work your full notice,” I said. “I wish that you were here.”
“I do, too, but I don’t have that much time left. It will be over before we know it. Besides, I gave my word when I took this job that I’d work a fair notice, and I mean to do just that. To be honest with you, I was kind of surprised that he wanted me to stay, but since he does, I’m going to stick it out until the bitter end. This is important to me.”
“I know that,” I said, “and that’s one of the things that I admire most about you. I just wish that you didn’t have to be so far away.”
“Me, too. Now, tell me about your day. I trust that Spirit Night turned out better for you than my night did for me.”
“I wish I could tell you that it did, but unfortunately something happened.”
“Are you okay, Suzanne?” he asked me, sudden concern coming through in his voice.
“I’m fine, and so is everyone else I love,” I answered. “Emma’s boyfriend was murdered tonight, though.”
“That’s terrible,” Jake said. “What happened?”
“At this point we’re still waiting to hear.”
“Are you saying that you know that he was murdered, but you don’t know how? Explain that to me.”
I took a deep breath, let it out slowly, and then I said, “His body was propped onto the bonfire in the park, and nobody even noticed that he was there until the fire chief lit the fire and Emma spotted the figure in the growing flames.”
“Man, that couldn’t have been easy on her.” After a brief pause, he asked, “How does someone ditch a body in a pile of wood in the middle of the evening when the whole town is out and about? It’s kind of conspicuous, isn’t it?”
“I haven’t figured that out yet, and I’ve been wondering about that myself. It didn’t help that half the crowd was dressed up as ghosts or wearing other costumes, and the other half was sporting blue and gold everything. It makes me wonder just how long he was there before Emma spotted him,” I said. It was an intriguing question. Had Rick been there long, or was his positioning on the bonfire mere happenstance? There were some very good reasons to think that he’d been murdered on the spot. After all, there was no way the killer could drag the body very far without being discovered; Rick was a pretty big guy. Did that mean that there was a bullet hole, or maybe even a stab wound that no one had found yet? It wasn’t even out of the realm of possibility that he could have been poisoned and had fallen into the fire’s wooden stockpile himself when the toxin finally struck home. I knew that we’d find out sooner or later, but I wanted to know now.
“Suzanne? Are you still there?” Jake asked, bringing me back to the present.
“Sorry. I was just thinking about something.”
“That makes sense. I thought I could hear the gears turning from here,” he said with a dull laugh.
“It’s just frustrating how much I don’t know.”
“Well, at least you know the victim’s identity.”
“That’s it, though, Jake. I have a ton of other theories about what might have happened to him, but there’s nothing that I can confirm.”
“Is there anything in particular that you’d like to run past me? Who knows? I might even be able to help.”
I considered telling him about the possibilities I’d been contemplating, but then I realized that this man had enough on his mind without me adding to it. “Thanks for the offer, but there’s nothing just yet.”
“Well, keep me posted.” There was a moment’s pause as someone away from the phone spoke to him, and he returned to me as he said, “Sorry. I’ve got to go.”
It was so abrupt that I didn’t get a chance to say good night, or that I loved him, or repeat that I wished he was in April Springs with me, but I was used to it. When Jake was on a case, he had unbelievable focus, and anything personal got left on the periphery.
I should be able to recognize it, since lately I’d become the same way myself when I was investigating a murder.
Maybe it was an occupational hazard of the job, and I had it, even though for me, this was still a hobby; a deadly serious hobby, but a hobby nonetheless.
I started to head for the master bedroom downstairs where I slept these days, but for some reason, I found myself climbing the steps to my old room instead. I changed into a spare set of jammies I kept up there, and then I settled in for the night in my old familiar spot. From the window near the bed I could see part of the park clearly outside, though I couldn’t make out the outline of the unburned bonfire anymore. Still, the second-story view of the familiar surroundings gave me comfort on a night where it was in short supply, so I curled up into my bed and found myself falling asleep before I knew what was happening.
Tomorrow would come soon enough, so I embraced the slumber, knowing that I’d get precious little rest before it was time to get up again.
Chapter 5
“Sharon, what are you doing here?” I asked Emma’s mother the next morning after I answered the knocking on the back door of the donut shop an hour after I’d arrived. “I thought you’d be home with your daughter, or at the very least, still asleep.”
“Honestly,
that was my original plan, but Emma wouldn’t go to sleep last night until I promised I’d come by and offer you my assistance this morning,” the older woman said as she smiled at me. “If you don’t want me here, just say the word and I’ll be on my way, but I promised Emma that I would at least try.”
“How is she doing?”
“I’m worried about her, if you want to know the truth,” Sharon said gravely.
“Is she falling apart?” I asked, envisioning all sorts of meltdowns. It had to be tough losing someone so close. Even if Rick hadn’t been the perfect boyfriend, they had been in a relationship, and she’d lost him.
“It’s just the opposite,” Sharon said. “Emma keeps insisting that she’s fine, but I know better. If anything, she’s in complete denial, but I don’t know how long that will last before the reality of what happened starts to sink in.”
“We both know that Emma is tough deep down where it counts. She’ll find her way through this if anyone can,” I said.
“I hope you’re right. So, do I take off my jacket, or do I go back home?”
I suddenly realized that I was pretty far behind in my morning chores. Emma and I hadn’t finished cleaning up the night before, given all that had happened, and I hadn’t spent much time yet that morning washing dishes. In fact, I’d added to the mess by making the cake donuts first, working around the dirty pots and pans in the sink and on the counter in back. I was planning to get to them later, but I wasn’t exactly sure when that would be.
“That depends. Do you honestly mean your offer to help, or are you just following your daughter’s wishes?” I asked her with a grin.
“Go on. Put me to work,” she said with a smile. “I’m sure that you must have a mound of dishes that you haven’t had time to deal with yet, especially since you were open last night.”
“I’ll be honest with you; it’s a train wreck back there,” I admitted. “I’d love to have you, and I’m more than happy to put you on the payroll, but only if you’re sure you don’t mind.”
“Suzanne, I’ll do whatever you need me to do, but I won’t take a dime for any of it,” Sharon said.
“Then we have a problem, because I can’t let you work for free,” I said with a frown.
“Well, it’s not exactly free,” she said with the hint of a grin. “What I’d really like you to do is to pay Emma instead of me.”
“I appreciate the gesture, but that’s nonsense. She’ll get her standard pay, and so will you.” It would mean cutting things a little closer to the bone than I usually liked for the next several days, but that didn’t matter to me at the moment. Besides, Grace had taken care of my current shortfall I’d incurred from my donation the night before, so why not use my profits the way I liked?
It was Sharon’s turn to smile at my gesture. “Suzanne, don’t kid yourself; we both know how thin your profit margin is around here. I won’t have you losing money because of the Blake girls.”
“You let me worry about that,” I said. “I had a healthy donation last night that’s fattened my bottom line unexpectedly, and I can’t think of a better use for it than this. Now, if you’re sure that you don’t mind, I’d greatly appreciate it if you’d take off your coat, grab an apron, and dive in. I need to ice the cake donuts and get the yeast dough ready for proofing.”
“Trust me, I know the routine,” Sharon said as she walked into the back with me.
By the time we were ready for our first break, the kitchen was immaculate again, and everything was in its place. “Do you and Emma go outside for your breaks when you’re running Donut Hearts for me?” I asked Sharon as I set the portable timer that told me when the dough would be ready for its next step.
“You bet we do, rain or shine, hot or cold,” Sharon replied. “Emma insisted that we do it that way from the very start, and to be honest with you, I’ve really grown to enjoy it.”
“Then let’s bundle up and head outside,” I said as I grabbed the timer so we’d know when our break was over and the dough would be ready for its next phase.
I zipped up my jacket as we walked outside of the donut shop and into the darkness. It was getting chillier with the passing of each day and night, and I wondered how soon the snow might start flying. April Springs got a smattering of the white stuff every year, usually two or three snowfalls annually that were mostly melted by noon, but every now and then we got hammered with the mother of all snowstorms, and the entire town shut down when that happened.
To be more exact, everyone but the town maintenance crew that ran the snowplows, and my donut shop. I always trudged through the snow in the steady gray night and made my donuts regardless of the weather. After all, the men and women who kept our streets clear deserved a treat, and so did any brave and intrepid soul willing to venture out into the winter wonderland.
As Sharon and I settled in at the table in front of Donut Hearts where our breaks always took place, she surprised me by saying exactly what I’d just been thinking. “I hope we get lots and lots of snow this year,” Sharon said after she took a deep sip of warm coffee. “The almanac says that we’re due.”
“I was just thinking the same thing,” I admitted. “I’ve got all of my supplies laid in, so I’m ready, if and when it happens.”
“Do you mean at the cottage?” Sharon asked me.
“No, though I have food and firewood aplenty there as well. I’m talking about the donut shop. We never seem to lose power here, so if I have electricity to run things, I can always make donuts.”
“I remember the time George borrowed someone’s snowmobile and came by to collect you and Emma during a particularly heavy snowfall. My daughter still tells that story to this day.”
I recalled it as well, back before the mayor had become the mayor and was just a retired cop who helped me occasionally with my investigations. Momma hadn’t been married then, but at least I’d known Jake. Sometimes it was hard to remember a time when he wasn’t in my life. “It was quite a ride,” I said. “You know, I probably don’t say it enough, but it’s truly wonderful having your daughter here.”
“Suzanne, she loves this donut shop nearly as much as you do,” Sharon said. “I can’t tell you how much Ray and I appreciate you making room for her.”
“She’s my most valuable asset. As long as I’m running Donut Hearts, she’ll be here if she wants to be. Truthfully, I can’t imagine running the place without her,” I said, and then added hastily, “not that I don’t appreciate all that you’re doing, as well.”
“Oh, I know that I’m capable enough, but I can’t match my daughter’s skills, and honestly, I’m fine with that. Her offerings of coffees alone set her apart from anything that I would ever even dream of attempting.”
“Emma does have a flair for the unusual,” I said. I glanced at the timer and saw that we had a few more minutes left on our break. I was wondering if I should ask Sharon about Emma’s boyfriend, or if I should just leave it alone, when she made the decision for me.
“Suzanne, Emma wanted me to ask you something, but if I’m overstepping my bounds, please let me know. No hard feelings.”
“Go on. Your daughter and I usually have a pretty open dialogue that covers just about everything, so I’ll extend the same privilege to you if you’d like.”
“I’d greatly appreciate that.” Sharon took a deep breath, and then she said, “Emma wants to know if you’ll investigate Rick’s murder. If you haven’t already decided to look into it, she asked me to implore you and Grace to find out what really happened to him.”
“We’re already digging around some,” I admitted, “but we don’t want to make things any worse for Emma than they already are, so we’re reluctant to speak with her about him until she’s ready.”
“As you said earlier, my daughter is tougher than she looks. She knows that Chief Martin is good at what he does, but she also believes that you manage to get to the heart of matters that aren’t as readily apparent to others. For what it’s worth, I think so myself. We’
d both consider it an enormous favor if you’d do it.”
“First of all, it’s important that you remember that I never do anything alone. Even with a great deal of help from others, more times than not it boils down to Grace and me simply getting lucky.”
“Do you know my definition of luck, Suzanne?” she asked with a wry smile.
I certainly should, since Emma had shared it with me enough times over the years. “Luck is nothing more than when preparation meets opportunity,” I said.
Sharon laughed out loud when she heard my quote. “I see that my daughter has been talking about me.”
“Only good things,” I answered.
“I’m not naïve enough to believe that,” Sharon said, “but thanks for the effort. Most of the time, my daughter and I get along splendidly. Working side by side here with her when you’ve been gone has been a real blessing. It’s brought us even closer together, and I’m indebted to you for every opportunity that we’ve had. As a matter of fact, most of the times we’ve clashed in the last five years have been over the boys and men that she’s dated.”
“Does that include Rick Hastings?” I asked.
“Especially Rick,” Sharon replied gravely. “I know that it’s not generally acceptable to speak ill of the dead, but I never liked that man, not from the first moment he crossed my threshold.”
“What in particular didn’t you like about him?”
Sharon sighed, and then she said, “Let me count the ways. In the first place, he was too old for her. In the second, he had no visible means of support, and yet he always seemed to have plenty of money to throw around. Finally, I didn’t care for the company he kept when he wasn’t around Emma.”
“Was there anyone in particular you had a problem with?” I asked, hoping that Sharon might be able to shed some light as to where Grace and I should start our investigation.