Black Bottom Murder: A Frosted Love Cozy Mystery Book 6 (Frosted Love Mysteries) (7 page)

Missy
and Chris had delivered the complete set of cupcakes to the bridal shower with
minutes to spare. They were silent on the drive back to the store, and once
there, Missy told Chris to have a seat in the eating area. The youth was
visibly nervous. His knee bounced up and down, and he picked relentlessly at a
hangnail on his thumb.

“Chris,
I want you to tell me all that you know about Safflower. You need to be
completely honest, because if you’re not, people you know and love may be
hurt,” she directed, her eyes boring into his.

He
caved immediately, sitting forward in his seat and dropping his eyes to the
table top, he told Missy that he knew for certain that Safflower took the money
he’d been counting, but he didn’t want her to get in trouble, so he said
nothing. Because she thought that she could trust him, since he didn’t rat her
out about the cash, she confided in him that she had “taken care of” the ugly
bastard who had harassed her at Sweet Love. She also told him that she had
flirted with the homeless boy and promised him a meal and a place to sleep if
he went in to the cupcake store and bought them each a cupcake. When he brought
the cupcakes out to her, she poisoned his and fed it to him, because she wanted
it to look like Missy had poisoned him.

“Why
on earth would she want to do that?” Missy asked.

“Because
she wanted to make it look like you had killed them both. She is really jealous
of your relationship with her sister, and I guess she overheard you guys
talking about her and didn’t like it,” Chris continued his confession. “She’s
also the one who hit you on the head in the alley. I didn’t want to believe it,
but when I was in her room at Echo’s once, I saw a baseball bat leaning up
against the closet. It had blood and blonde hair on it – really grossed me
out.”

“I
can’t even imagine,” Missy murmured, feeling sorry for the young man who had
unwittingly become involved with a young, attractive serial killer, but angry
that he allowed her to continue to be in danger and didn’t say anything. “Why
did she trash my shop and Echo’s?”

“I
think just because she wanted to. She seemed really nice at first, but once I
got to know her, she turned kinda…scary. I just think she’s an angry, nasty
person who lashes out whenever she feels like it. Seems like she was just using
me because I happened to work for you,” he shook his head, embarrassed and
ashamed. “I guess just because someone looks pretty on the outside, doesn’t
mean they’re a good person on the inside.”

“You
said it,” Missy agreed.

They
both jumped when Chas knocked on the front door.

“What
do you need help with?” the handsome detective asked, when Missy led him to the
table she shared with Chris.

“Well,
first you’ll need to get your guys out here to see if the smashed cupcakes in
the back alley have poison in them, and then you can just sit a spell with
Chris and me, because this young man has quite a story to tell you,” she said
firmly, daring Chris to demur. The youth merely nodded, having made up his mind
to do the right thing, finally.

With
the information that Chas had dug up, Chris’s statement, and physical evidence
found in Safflower’s room at Echo’s house, the Dellville police had more than
enough probable cause to lead the deranged young woman away in handcuffs, her
sister sobbing miserably as she left. It was unknown, as yet, whether Chris
would be charged for not telling police what he knew, and until they figured it
out, Missy, always a believer in second chances, let him keep his job at Crème
de la Cupcake. Echo had reopened her store after the vandalism had been cleaned
up, but Missy hadn’t seen her since their last argument over Safflower.

Working
in the kitchen, baking extra batches of pumpkin spice cupcakes for a Fall
Festival at the Jr. High, Missy heard a soft knock on the back door.

“Come
in,” she called out, one hand keeping a cookbook open to the proper page, the
other hand stirring a thick mixture of pumpkin and spices. Shocked to see Echo
walk in, carrying a brown paper bag, she wiped her hands on her apron, stuck a
shaker of cinnamon on top of the cookbook to hold her page, and smiled at her
friend. “How are you holding up?” she asked softly.

“As
well as can be expected,” her friend admitted honestly. “Listen, Missy, I
wanted to apologize for being so nasty to you when you were just trying to
help. I guess I just wanted so badly to be able to believe in my little
sister…” she trailed off sadly.

Missy
moved across the room enveloping her friend in a hug. “Don’t you worry about
it. I never liked to believe anything bad about my sister either. Of course she
was as pure as the driven snow, so it was never really an issue, but believe
me, I understand, and it’s okay.”

“I’m
so glad you’re talking to me,” Echo said, smiling with relief. “I had no idea
how you’d react to me dropping in, but I had to give it a shot. I even brought
you a gallon of Vanilla Bean so that you could have your treat even if you
didn’t want to come to the shop to see me,” she held up the paper bag.

Missy
giggled. “You’re so sweet! Of course I want to come see you. I’ll put that in
the freezer for now, while you sit down and keep me company, but when you go,
it goes back across the street with you so it’ll be there when I visit.”

Echo
grinned from ear to ear, put the ice cream in the freezer, and sat down to
visit. The two friends fell right back into their familiar routine as if no
time had passed.

“Life
has been pretty darn quiet lately,” Chas Beckett mused as he and Missy rocked
lazily on her front porch swing, iced mint tea in their hands and Toffee at
their feet.

“Shhhh…don’t
jinx it!” Missy murmured contentedly, leaning her head against his shoulder,
wrapped in the circle of his arm.

“So what
new and exciting things are you planning now?” he teased.

“You
know me, I always have a little something special up my sleeve,” she grinned,
full of mischief.

“You’re
not wearing sleeves,” he reminded her.

“Smarty
pants,” she accused. “I may not be wearing sleeves at the moment, but Fall will
be here before you know it, and the holidays are always special,” she assured
him.

“Will
I actually get to see you during the busy season?” he asked, twining one of her
blonde curls between his fingers.

“I’ll
make sure of it,” she promised, snuggling in closer.

“I’m
going to hold you to that, young lady,” he warned, smiling down at her.

“I
can’t wait,” she tilted her face toward his for a kiss, and just as he brushed
his lips against hers, they were blindsided by a sloppy wet doggy kiss from
Toffee, who clearly wanted a piece of the action.

A letter from the Author

To each and
every one of my Amazing readers:
I hope you
enjoyed this story as much as I enjoyed writing it.  Let me what you think
by leaving a review!

I’ll be
releasing another installment in two weeks so to stay in the loop (and to get
free books and other fancy stuff)
Join my Book club
.

Stay
Curious,

Carol Durand