Illegally Iced (12 page)

Emma had crossed the line with me a few times in the past regarding her father, telling him things I had wanted to keep private, so unfortunately I had to be a little careful with what I said around her when it came to my amateur murder investigations. “Who says I’m even looking into it?”

She laughed at that response. “Suzanne, don’t tell me if you don’t want to, but we both know you’re investigating James’s murder. How could you not? You two had a spat and the next thing you know, the man’s dead.”

“It was just a coincidence, Emma,” I said simply.

“I know that,” she replied, her eyes growing big. “Suzanne, I wasn’t accusing you of anything. I never could believe that you’d actually kill someone.”

“That’s good to know,” I answered, “but really, I don’t have anything to share.”

We were both silent for a minute, and then she broke it by saying, “If you’re worried I’ll tell Dad, you don’t have to. After the last time, I told him that I’m no longer a source for him.”

“Don’t alienate him on my account,” I said. It had taken the father and daughter a great deal of time and effort to get themselves on a good footing, and I hated being the cause for any rifts in her family.

“Don’t worry; my mother has taken care of that. Funny, most folks think she’s the quiet one and
Dad
is the one with the temper.”

“Your mother has a temper?” I asked, not able to believe it. She worked with us on special occasions, and on the rare days I wasn’t at the donut shop she filled in for me, with Emma in charge. It didn’t happen often, but when it did, she was a real lifesaver.

“Not exactly. It’s more like a very strong, silent energy that’s nearly impossible to defy. I could never stand up to her as a kid, and my dad still can’t. Anyway, she laid down the law with him. I’m only allowed to call information in to him if there’s a fire or an accident, and he has to be my second call, no matter how much Dad might howl about it.”

I had to laugh, knowing Ray. “He honestly didn’t want you to call the first responders before you called him?”

“He says he was joking, but Mom and I still have our doubts.”

I was weighing the idea of talking to her about the case when I was saved by my timer. I trusted Emma when she told me her tattling days were over, but that didn’t mean I had to tempt fate. Half of what Grace and I did depended at least a little on the element of surprise with the folks we talked to, and if they knew we were coming, I had the feeling that our questioning would be much less effective.

“Time to make the donuts,” I said, alluding to an old television commercial that implied that it was a relentless task. They had that much right. It seemed like my entire life was spent making donuts, selling donuts, cleaning up after donuts, or getting ready to make donuts again. I was so happy that Jake was in my life, for a great many reasons, but one of the biggest reasons was because he made each day special and something to look forward to, even if we didn’t get to chat or see each other.

“Sounds good to me,” Emma said as we went back inside.

*   *   *

We made our deadline, which was a great deal easier to do since we’d changed our opening hours from five to six in the morning. I’d also made the executive decision to close at eleven instead of noon, something that made my workday even more reasonable. It was still a pain getting up so early, but I doubted that many people cared about an afternoon donut, so closing before noon hadn’t been a problem for me. As long as my customers clamored for my goods early in the morning, it was all the motivation I needed to get out of bed every day.

Our mayor, and my dear friend, walked in a little after six
A.M.
“Hello, George. How are you today?” I asked as I got him his standard cup of coffee.

“Well, I’m vertical instead of horizontal, so that’s a good thing, right?”

“It is in my book. What kind of donut would you like today?”

He studied the cases of donuts on display, tray after tray of sweet goodness, and he stopped when he got to one in particular. I couldn’t hide my grin, since I’d made it with him in mind. “You’ve got something called a Cherry Bomb? What’s the secret ingredient?” he asked.

“There are two, actually: Cheerwine and cherry-Kool-Aid,” I said with a grin.

“I’ll take a dozen, but I have to get them to go,” he said. “I’ve got a fool planning commission meeting this morning, not that I’m going to share any of these beauties with that ungrateful crew.”

“Don’t you want to taste one first? They might be a little strong. I’m still working on the recipe.”

“You know me. I always say the stronger the better,” he replied with a smile. “Besides, what Nan doesn’t know won’t hurt her.”

“Has your secretary got you on another diet?” I asked, killing the grin I’d felt bubbling up. George was touchy about the weight he’d added since being elected our mayor, and I wasn’t about to poke the bear. He and Nan were tiptoeing around the edges of a relationship, and I wished one of them would pull the trigger and ask the other one out.

“She says it’s for my own good, but if that’s true, why am I so miserable eating tree bark and rice puffed air?”

“George, Nan wants you to live a long time, and I have to say, I agree with the sentiment. Are you sure you want a dozen?”

“I thought you were in the business of
selling
donuts, woman.”

“I am, but my friends mean more to me than even Donut Hearts itself.”

He leaned forward and shushed me. “Don’t let her hear that, or you’ll be in for trouble.”

I laughed this time. “George, do you really think my donut shop knows what I’m saying?”

“Don’t tempt fate. That’s all I’m saying.”

“Pretty unusual advice from a former cop,” I said.

“Some of the most superstitious people I ever knew were cops,” he said.

Loudly, as though I were appeasing the spirit of my donut shop, I said, “I love Donut Hearts, and I wouldn’t want to ever imagine my life without her.”

We both stopped and listened, and at that moment, the refrigerator started chuckling softly. It was an old sound I’d gotten used to and most likely had more to do with compressors and seals than pleasure, but George grinned widely when it happened. “Don’t say I didn’t tell you.”

“So, how many donuts would you
really
like?”

“I’d still like a dozen, but I’ll take three. Nobody can fuss at me about that.”

“You’re kidding, right? Of course we can,” I said as I bagged the donuts for him. Since he was being so good about it, I threw in a few donut holes as well, something I knew that he loved to snack on.

After I took his money and gave him his change, he lingered at the front for a second. “Suzanne, I spoke with Phil about you digging into the blacksmith’s murder.”

“Phil?” I asked, surprised by the nickname. The police chief and the mayor hadn’t ever been what you’d call friends to my knowledge, so I had to wonder exactly what had changed.

“We’re working together quite a bit these days, and I’m getting to like him. When I was on the force, he wasn’t my favorite person in April Springs, but he’s matured over the years.”

“Could his change of heart be due to the fact that you’re
his
boss now?”

George shrugged. “I don’t know, and I don’t care. Anybody who makes my life easier is okay by me. Anyway, tread lightly there, okay?”

“George, you’re not taking his side, are you?” I asked. We’d been through too much together in the past, and I hated the thought that I might be losing one of my staunchest allies.

“Of course not,” he said quickly. “As a matter of fact, I’m most likely the reason he didn’t rush out and arrest you when that journal showed up in his mailbox.”

“He told you that?”

“We don’t have any secrets around here,” George said.

“And here I thought it was because of Momma,” I said.

“Sure, that’s part of it, but I had a word with him, too. Just don’t make things any tougher on me than they need to be.”

“You’re not asking me to back off, are you?”

“Me?” He looked absolutely shocked by the idea. “I’m not crazy, Suzanne. I know you’ve made up your mind to do this, and I can’t say that I blame you. All I’m saying is try not to rub his nose in the fact that you’re snooping around yourself.”

“That I can promise to try to do.”

“Then we’re good. Thanks again for the donuts. I’ll see you tomorrow,” he added as he shook the bag in his hand.

“I may not make any Cherry Bombs,” I said. I had some old favorites that made the list every day, but there was always room for some experiments on my menu.

“I’ll try to get by with these, then,” he said, and then George was gone. As much as I appreciated the fact that he and Momma were looking out for me, there was a part of me that resented their actions, regardless of how altruistic their motives were. When we’d been married, Max had tried to do the same thing in his own odd way, and I’d grown to resent it from anyone. Still, at least I knew that their hearts were in the right place.

It wouldn’t pay to go against them if I could help it. After all, who would make the donuts if I were locked up for interfering with a police investigation?

Phil, indeed. I wasn’t sure how I felt about that new development, but I was pretty certain nobody cared what my take on it was.

A crowd of construction workers came in just then, ending all thoughts of doing anything but serving them and collecting their money before they could leave. It would add nicely to my bottom line, and I wouldn’t have to feel guilty about taking some time off later when my book club came by to meet in an hour. I’d thought about postponing it given James’s murder, but we’d had to cancel our last meeting, and I didn’t want them all to drift away from me. It had become a part of my life that I looked forward to, and I would have hated to see it end. Today’s book was called
The Killer’s Last Bite,
and when the group had first mentioned it, I had thought that it was a new culinary mystery, only to realize later that it was the latest title in a thriller series,
The Killer’s Last …
So far the author had gone through
Kiss, Touch, Whisper, Sound, Sigh,
and
Gasp,
and I had to wonder how many more books he had in him. I had enjoyed this one, and now I couldn’t wait to go back and read the previous books. I loved when that happened; finding a nice inventory of books in a new-to-me series was pure gold.

Before the book club got to Donut Hearts, a man in a three-piece suit came into the shop. “May I help you?” I asked.

“I hope so,” he said as he slid a hundred-dollar bill across the counter. “There’s more where that came from if you’re willing to tell me what you know.”

I didn’t make a move toward the bill. Had he waited until we were empty before approaching me? I had a feeling this man was up to no good. “What did you have in mind? I know quite a bit about a lot of different things, but there’s one thing you should keep in mind; my recipes aren’t for sale, at any price.” That was a bald-faced lie, but I doubted he’d know it. For a hundred bucks, I wasn’t sure what kind of information he was after, but I didn’t think it had anything to do with my magical crullers.

“This isn’t about your offerings here, as delightful as they must be. It concerns James Settle.”

I took my index finger, touched it as though it were smeared with mud, and slid the bill back to him. “Sorry, but that’s not for sale, either.”

He shrugged as he reached into his wallet and pulled out four more hundreds to go with the lone one still on the counter. “I have to warn you that if you’re thinking about gouging me, that’s as high as I’ve been authorized to go, unless you have something to say that is truly interesting to my employer.”

“I wasn’t dickering with you,” I said. “James was my friend. I’m not about to betray his memory to you for money.”

“You misunderstand,” he said plaintively. “I’m searching for his killer. If you were indeed friends, you should be happy to help me. Why wouldn’t you? You could profit from it as well as doing me a great service.”

“Who are you working for?” I asked.

“Sorry, but I’m not at liberty to disclose that,” he replied stuffily.

“Let me guess, then. It’s either Anne Pinerush, or her son, Forrest.” He flinched just a touch at Forrest’s name, and I knew I wasn’t going to help him. I could have used the five hundred, but not if it meant helping Forrest.

“I saw that. So, Forrest it is,” I said.

“That doesn’t really matter. Everything that I just told you was true.”

“So you say. Again, thanks, but no thanks.”

He started to leave until I called out, “Hey, wait a second. Don’t forget to take your money with you.”

“You honestly aren’t going to help me?” he asked.

“No, sir, I’m not,” I said with a smile. “If you want a donut I’d be happy to sell you your fill, but I won’t peddle any information about my friend.”

He appeared to think it over, and then said, “I understand completely. I’ll take a dozen of your finest donuts.” As he said it, he pushed the money forward again. “Consider the balance your tip.”

I shook my head. “Now you’ve done it.”

“Done what?”

“You don’t even get the donuts after that remark. Go on. It’s best if you leave right now.”

“And suppose I say no?” he asked as he collected the money.

“Well, there are a dozen men I could call to throw you out, but why should I deprive myself of the pleasure?” I asked with a grin. I reached down to retrieve the baseball bat I kept under the front counter to deter rowdies from acting up, and as I hefted it, I slapped the wood in my open palm.

“I’m going,” he said, and quickly left.

I stowed the bat back under the counter as Emma walked out of the kitchen. “What was that all about?”

“How much did you hear?”

“Just that you threatened a customer,” she replied with a smile. “If you were going to throw somebody out, why didn’t you call me?”

“Do you think I would have needed any help?”

“Forget that, Suzanne. I just wanted to watch. What did he do?”

“He tried to pay me for information about James.”