Green Velvet Murder: A Donut Hole Cozy Mystery - Book 16
Read Green Velvet Murder: A Donut Hole Cozy Mystery - Book 16 Online
Authors: Susan Gillard
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Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction.
Names, characters, businesses, places, events
and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a
fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual
events is purely coincidental.
Copyright
2016 by
Guardian Publishing Group
- All
rights reserved.
All
rights Reserved. No part of this publication or the information in it may be
quoted from or reproduced in any form by means such as printing, scanning,
photocopying or otherwise without prior written permission of the copyright
holder.
Table of Contents
Heather stripped off her apron, then
hung it on a hook beside the door in the kitchen of Donut Delights.
The chocolate scent of her newest
creations wafted through the air. Rich, creamy, deep-fried and double-dipped in
a green glaze. Oh yeah, the Green Velvet Donut would be a resounding success.
Heather opened the kitchen doors and
strode out into the store, excitement squirming through her belly.
So much had changed in the past few
weeks. Donut Delights had grown beyond her wildest dreams, and there’d be more
to come if her new prospective backer had his say.
Glowing light filled the inside of the
store, glancing off the glass tops of her wrought iron tables, and the golden
boards beneath them. Chatter hummed through the space, broken by laughter or
the clink of cups on saucers.
Serenity – this was her happy place.
Amy waved at her from the counter,
lips taut. She mouthed something then pointed at one of the tables at the front
of the store.
Heather frowned. “What?”
Amy pressed her finger to her lips.
What had gotten into her bestie this time? Ah well, as long as it didn’t have
anything to do with leg day.
Heather hurried to the counter, then
halted beside her bestie. “What’s wrong?” She asked, underneath her breath.
“That’s what’s wrong,” Amy replied,
through her teeth. She made eyebrows at two women sitting at next to Eva’s
usual spot.
The shorter of the two had cropped
brown hair, streaked gray and a homely smile. The blonde – totally dyed, she
had to be at least sixty – across from her picked up her mug of coffee and
sipped, gaze shooting daggers.
“What about them?”
“See the blonde?” Amy asked and masked
her words by grinding up coffee beans. “That’s Kent’s Aunt. Aunt Karly. She’s
new in town and boy does she hate my guts. If she spots me, she’ll call me over
and –”
“Amy,” the blonde yelled, and waved her
hand. “Amy, we need a refill over here.”
“No,” Amy said, under her breath, and
accompanied it with a groan.
Maricela appeared, her Donut Delights
apron coated in confectioner’s sugar, and blinked at the two of them.
“Everything is all right?”
“Actually, your timing is perfect,”
Heather replied. “Would you mind keeping an eye on the counter for me? Amy and
I have a social call to attend to.”
“Sure. Anything for you, boss,”
Maricela replied, then bumped Amy to the side with her hip. She grabbed the coffee
grinder and gave it a buzz.
“You’re the best,” Amy said and patted
Maricela on the shoulder. She pointed at Heather. “Don’t even get me started on
you.”
Heather strode to Amy’s side,
curiosity driving her step for step. Why didn’t this Karly woman like Amy? And
who was the other lady with her?
Amy looped her arm through Heathers,
and they walked to the table. They halted in front of the two women, at last.
“There you are,” Karly said, then
peered at Amy’s hands. “But you didn’t bring me any coffee. Ridiculous service
in this place. And who’s this? Another waitress friend of yours?”
Heather tilted her head to the right.
No wonder Amy didn’t like the woman. “I’m Heather Shepherd, the owner of this
store. I’ll have Maricela bring you another cup of coffee.” She turned and
waved at her assistant by the counter, then held up a finger. “Is your drink
still full, ma’am?” She asked the dark-haired lady who had the displeasure of
keeping Aunt Karly company.
“Bernie, please call me Bernie. And
no, thank you, I’m still full –”
“She’s fine,” Karly said, then rolled
her eyes. “Bernadette takes an age to say anything these days. Must be that
slow brain of yours.” She tapped her temple. “Old age, such a pity.”
“You’re a year older than me, sister,”
Bernie replied, in soothing tones.
“What brings you two lovely ladies to
Donut Delights?” Heather asked, tightening her grip on Amy’s arm.
The last rude woman she’d met had
lived above a rat-infested restaurant. She’d been a little senile, though, and
Karly was in possession of all her faculties.
“Ugh, we just moved here from Dallas,”
Karly said and did another teenage eye roll.
“I love it." Bernie smiled. “And
your store is just lovely. The donuts are –”
“I raised Kent,” Karly said, talking
as if her sister didn’t exist. “The poor boy needs moral support, so I picked
up and moved here, along with the rest of the Belushi family. That includes
Bernie, here.”
Heather put up her best customer
smile. “Well, if you need anything, you just let me know.”
“I need coffee,” Karly replied and
tapped the side of her mug. The porcelain tinged. “I believe I said that
already.”
“Please, there’s no need to be rude,”
Bernie said. “I’m sorry, my sister can be –”
“I can’t understand why Kent would
want to move to this bottom feeder town,” Karly said, loudly, and her gaze
swept up and down Amy’s length. “I understand he had the motivation, though it
doesn’t look all that strong.”
That was enough. Heather hadn’t been
rude to a customer in the entirety of Donut Delights' existence, and she didn’t
plan to start now. She swiveled her head and tapped Amy on the forearm. “Amy,
please go to the kitchen and check on my Green Velvet donuts. I’m sure Bernie
would like to taste one,” she said.
Amy jumped as if she’d been goosed,
then hurried off without another word.
“Green Velvet, that sounds
interesting.” Bernie straightened and peered at the kitchen doors. The first
full sentence she’d gotten out since the conversation had started.
“Yeah, Amy helped me plan them. She’s
a whizz in the kitchen,” Heather said, then turned and walked back to the
counter, anger whipping up and down her spine.
“Amy helped make them?” Aunt Karly
said, in a stage whisper. “You’d better stay away, then, Bernie. That girl
can’t cook to save her life. Come on, let’s go to the donut store on the other
side of town.”
Heather counted to ten, then finally
faced the front of Donut Delights again. The horrible woman was gone, and she’d
forgotten to pay for her coffees, too.
“Good riddance,” Heather said.
“You want I get the rolling pin?”
Maricela asked, and wriggled her eyebrows.
Heather’s laughter bubbled up from the
tips of her toes.
Heather handed the leash to Lilly,
then rubbed her palms together and stretched her neck. “What’s our route today,
Miss Lils?”
“What about the park? We haven’t taken
Dave to the park yet,” Lilly replied, then scratched her favorite dog between
his fluffy ears. He barked and wagged his tail – her plan had his approval,
already.
Heather wriggled her nose. She’d never
liked the park. The pollen drove her sinuses crazy and the memories there? Not
the best. Like the time she’d run into Geoff Lawless after Jelly Polinski had
stolen her recipe book – she still hadn’t gotten it back from the cops.
“All right, if you two insist,”
Heather said, at last.
They paced down the sidewalk, Dave
trotting at his pace, the sunshine warm on Heather’s cheeks. Another perfect morning
in Hillside. She’d taken off from work because it was the last day of Lilly’s
summer holiday and she didn’t want to miss out on all the fun.
Or rather, Dave wouldn’t forgive her
if they did.
“I can’t wait to go back to school,”
Lilly said and turned her face up to catch more of the sun. “I didn’t get to
ride my bike all holiday.”
A crisp breeze brushed the back of
Heather’s neck, shifting her hair from the nape of her neck. “Oh? Why not?”
Dave barked and gave Lilly a quizzical
‘why not’ doggy look.
“Because Bill and Colleen don’t want
me to bust up my knees. They got me those dorky knee guards and everything. But
still, they don’t let me ride,” Lilly said. “This is the first time I’ve ever
had a bike of my own!”
“I’ll give Colleen a call. Chat to her
about it. I’m sure she just wants you to stay safe,” Heather said. Everyone
wanted Lilly to stay safe. The residents of Hillside, at least the ones who
frequented Donut Delights, loved Lilly.
“Thanks, Au - Heather,” Lilly said,
then coughed to cover her slip-up.
“Auheather? Is that my new name?”
Lilly opened her mouth to answer but
didn’t get the words out. She stared at a point past Heather’s shoulder and
blinked.
“What’s wrong?”
“Shepherd!” A man yelled.
Heather flinched, Dave barked, and
Lilly blinked a couple more time. “That man’s big,” she whispered.
Uh oh, that could only mean one thing.
Heather turned to face the bald,
bearded guy loping down the road. “Geoff Lawless,” Heather murmured. “Honey, do
me a favor and take Dave to the tree over there?”
Lilly nodded and walked off, dragging
her feet each step. The girl hadn’t given up on her aspirations of becoming an
investigator at the fresh, young age of ten.
Geoff jogged up to Heather, then
stopped. He bent and gripped his knees, sucking in breaths of air, then puffing
them out again. A rhinoceros after a sprint through the grass.
“Geoff?” Heather asked, and tucked her
arms behind her back.
Dave barked and ran around in circles.
He’d never liked Heather’s rival donut maker.
“Gimme a second,” Geoff said, raising
a finger, still doubled over. “Ran from the store. Had to come.”
“Take all the time you need,” Heather
replied. She pursed her lips. Hopefully, all the time he needed wasn’t longer
than five minutes. She glanced at Lilly, and the girl waved back.
Geoff straightened and coughed into
his ham of a fist. “I came as quick as I could.”
“I can tell.”
“Woman’s been murdered. That new one
in town. She came to my store yesterday. The cops will think it’s me.”
Heather hadn’t had too many
conversations with Geoff. Was this how he usually spoke or had the run robbed
him of his conjunctions?
“Wait, slow down. Start again.
Someone’s been murdered?”
Geoff clicked his tongue, then stamped
his feet against the concrete. Not a great start to an amicable discussion.
“Bernadette Belushi,” he said. “She was found dead in her hotel room this
morning.”
“Oh no,” Heather said, and her stomach
jolted. She’d met Bernie for all of two minutes, but the woman hadn’t deserved
this. She’d been a real sweetheart. “Wait, what’s this got to do with your
store?”
“She choked to death on one of my
fudge balls,” Geoff replied.
Heather hissed and glanced askance at
Lilly. “Keep your voice down, Geoff.” She scratched her temple, then pointed at
him. “Fudge is usually soft.”
“Not my fudge. My fudge is the worlds
hardest. And the best. You have to suck it to get the flavor out.”
Flashbacks of the 90s teen movie,
Jawbreaker, sailed through Heather’s thoughts. “And the cops have come to talk
to you?”
“Not yet. But it’s all over town this
morning. They say there was a fight first. And then it happened,” Geoff said,
lowering his voice. His gaze darkened and his beard waggled in the breeze. “I
had nothing to do with this, but they’re gonna think it’s me. It was my fudge
that choked her.”
Heather ran her fingers through her
hair. Poor Bernie. And, she couldn’t believe this, but poor Geoff. The man had
proved himself hapless on countless occasions. Was he capable of murder?
Probably not. But he was a suspect in
her books too. Not the main suspect, no.
Karly Belushi’s sneer appeared in her
mind’s eye.
“You gotta help me, Shepherd. I know
we don’t get on, but you gotta help me.”
A hard fudge ball. “Just how big are
your fudge balls, Geoff?”
Geoff held up his two fingers and made
a circle slightly bigger than a golf ball.
“Oh boy. All right. I’ll look into
it,” Heather said. “But off the record. And on one condition.” She raised a
finger.
“What?” Lawless asked, and dry-washed
his hands.
“You stay away from Donut Delights. No
more sneaking through my trash for recipe ideas. Got it?”
Geoff stepped back, turned, then
paused. “All right,” he said. He bounded off down the road again, without a
‘thank you’ in classic Lawless style.
“You’re welcome,” Heather muttered.
Lilly tugged on her sleeve. “What was
that about?” The girl asked, excitement beaming from her eyes. High beams.
Lights that would surely see through any lies.
“None of your business, young lady –
oh!”
“What?”
Heather sighed and wiped her forehead,
gathering dampness beneath her fingertips. “Nothing. I just forgot to tell
Geoff that my trash cans at home were out of bounds, too.”
“Huh?” Lilly arched an eyebrow.
“Forget about it,” Heather said –
advice she’d never been able to follow herself – then patted Lilly on her back.
“Let’s get back to our walk.”
Heather set the pace, questions and
images popping in and out of her brain. A single name in vibrant green letters:
Karly Belushi.
