Custard Crime: Donut Mystery #14 (The Donut Mysteries) (10 page)

“Just keep repeating that, and maybe it will turn out
to be true,” she said with a hopeful grin.

I watched her go to her door, unlock it, and step
inside before I made my way to the cottage.
 
I wasn’t exactly concerned about my impending
discussion with Jake, but that didn’t mean that I wouldn’t appreciate a little
time to prepare myself for it.

Unfortunately, that didn’t happen.

The police cruiser was already parked in the
driveway, and as my headlights swept across the porch as I pulled up, I saw
Jake waiting for me there.

It appeared that things were going to get started
sooner rather than later, whether I was ready for it or not.

Chapter 10

“Hey, there,” I said as I approached Jake.
 
“Can I make you something to eat?”

“I appreciate the offer, but I picked up a sandwich on
the way back,” he said.

“Sorry about that.
 
It’s not quite the golden cuisine I had,
is it?” I asked.
 
“Would you like to
chat inside?
 
It’s getting a little
nippy out here.”

“If you don’t mind, let’s do this out here.
 
I’d kind of like to separate this
conversation from the rest of our evening, if that’s okay with you.”

“That doesn’t sound good,” I said as I took a seat
beside him.
 
“Go on.
 
Let me have it.
 
Chances are I deserve whatever I’m about
to get.”

Jake looked down at his hands for a few moments as he
prepared himself to speak.
 
Wow,
Grace had been right.
 
This really was
going to be bad.
 
“Suzanne, I don’t
even know where to start,” he finally said.
 
“This is the oddest way that I’ve ever
worked a case in my entire career.”

“I know that it’s not conventional for you,” I said,
“but when you think about it, we make the perfect team.
 
You shouldn’t be upset about it; you
should be embracing it.”

“Go on.
 
Enlighten
me,” he said softly.

“Jake, one of the main reasons that you were assigned
to this case is because you know so many of the people involved, right?”

“Certainly that’s part of it,” he said grudgingly.

“Well, when you think about it, that’s where Grace
and I can help you.
 
You look at
things like a cop.
 
You can’t help
it.
 
It’s been ingrained in you from
your first day at the academy.”

“That’s a good thing, Suzanne.
 
Need I remind you that I’m very good at
what I do?”

“You don’t have to convince me,” I said.
 
“I’m your biggest fan.”

“Then why won’t you let me solve this case by myself?”
 
He was clearly frustrated with the
situation, and it hurt me to realize that it was my fault.

“I’m good at what I do, too,” I said.
 
“Grace, George and I have solved several
murders in the past.
 
Even Chief
Martin is willing to admit that we’ve played vital roles in some of his investigations.”

“The chief and I are two very different law
enforcement officers, though.”

“I’m not trying to take anything away from you.
 
What I want to do is make things easier
for you, not harder.”

“How are you planning to do that?”

“Think about it.
 
Grace and I are able to ask questions that you aren’t.
 
We can go places you’re not welcome, and
we know where a lot of the skeletons are buried around town.
 
Don’t forget, too, that our reach goes
beyond April Springs.
 
We have
people we can talk to in Union Square as well.”

“Don’t sell me too short.
 
I’ve got a hunch that Angelica would
talk to me, too,” Jake said.

“Of course she would, but will she tell you the same
things that she tells me?
 
I don’t
think so.
 
Jake, the two of us have
a history that you can’t touch.”

“I guess what I hate most about this situation is the
idea that you’re not safe,” Jake finally admitted.
 
“Suzanne, I hope you know that my
reluctance to involve you in this case has nothing to do with my ego.
 
Trust me, I’ll take help wherever I find
it.
 
You’ve just come too close in
the past to being hurt while you’ve been tracking down killers.
 
If something happened to you while I was
investigating, I’d never be able to forgive myself.”

I could easily understand how he felt, but I couldn’t
let that run my life.
 
“I get
it.
 
I know firsthand how it felt
when you were shot, but I’m not going to try to stop you from doing your job.”

Jake stood at that point and began to pace around the
porch.
 
“But you’re a
donutmaker.
 
You’re not a trained
investigator.”

“I know that.
 
Grace and I are both well aware of our
limitations.
 
We never take any
unnecessary chances when we’re digging into murder.
 
There’s something else that you need to realize.
 
Think about the killers who still
might be out there somewhere if we hadn’t taken an active role in investigating
their crimes.
 
I’m not sure I could
live with myself if someone else got hurt when I might have been able to prevent
it.
 
When I first got started doing
this, I had no idea how much satisfaction I’d get out of helping capture the
bad guys.”

“It kind of gets in your blood after a while, doesn’t
it?” Jake asked with the hint of a grin showing.

“So much so that I don’t think I can go back to being
just a donutmaker anymore.
 
Digging
into these crimes has become a part of me, and of Grace as well.
 
Please don’t ask us to give that up
now.”

“What kind of boyfriend would I be if I did that?” he
asked lightly.

“Not a very good one, despite the fact that your
intentions might be just to protect me.
 
This isn’t something I do because I need to.
 
It’s something that I
like
to do.”

“Maybe you should go to the academy yourself, then,”
Jake said, halfway serious.

“No, I don’t think so.
 
I could never operate within your
framework of rules, reports, and regulations.
 
What I’m good at is talking to people,
and finding out their secrets.
 
I
don’t have any desire to put the cuffs on a bad guy, or read them their rights,
but I’m delighted if something I do helps capture them.
 
The real question, though, is that
something that you can live with?”

“Do I have any choice?
 
I know your mother didn’t.
 
She told me herself that in the
beginning, she tried her best to get you to stop.”

“Let’s leave her out of this, shall we?” I asked
him.
 
“This is between you and
me.
 
What do you say?
 
Can Grace and I work on the sidelines
and help you find whoever killed Evelyn Martin?”

It seemed to take him forever to answer, but when he
did, he spoke with a wry smile.
 
“Sure,
why not?
 
I know one thing.
 
I’m going to have to learn to try to
stop telling you to be careful with every breath I take.
 
Just assume that every time we chat,
that’s what I’m saying.”

“I can do that,” I said with a smile.

“Good enough,” he said.
 
“And remember, I can’t do anything to
give either one of you official status of any kind.
 
This isn’t some kind of quid pro quo
situation.
 
You both need to tell me
everything you uncover, but I’m not in the same position.
 
I’m not about to share everything I know
with both of you, so you’re going to be flying blind sometimes.
 
There’s no other way to say it, Suzanne.
 
To a certain extent, you and Grace are both
on your own there.”

“We don’t expect any special treatment from you,” I
said, and then I smiled at him.
 
“Well, at least not as far as our investigation is concerned.”

“Then we should be fine.”

“I have one question.
 
Can we still call you if we get in a
jam?” I asked.

“I’d better be the first call that you make,” Jake
said.
 
“But do me a favor.
 
Try not to get into any jams in the
first place, okay?”

“Will do, Chief.”

“Inspector will do just fine,” he said.
 
“Now, I know that we’ve both eaten, but how
about some dessert?”

“I ate more than I thought I would at Napoli’s, but I
might have a bite of pie before I go to bed.”

Jake looked at his watch.
 
“Already?
 
Oh, that’s right.
 
In all of the excitement, I forgot that
tomorrow was your first day back at Donut Hearts.
 
How excited are you?”

“More than I can express,” I said.
 
After another moment’s thought, I added,
“You know, I could probably get Emma and her mother to keep working at the shop
for another week if you’d like me to help you investigate Evelyn’s murder.”

“Young lady, you need to get back to that donut shop
as soon as you can,” he said.
 
“Your
crime-solving can still be fitted in on your off-hours.
 
Besides, I’m sure that everyone involved
wants things back to normal as quickly as possible, including you, deep down.”

“You’re right, but Grace and I are still planning to
be active in the investigation.”

“As you’ve made abundantly clear this evening,” he
said.
 
“Come on.
 
Let’s get that pie.”

“You don’t have to ask me twice.”

As Jake and I enjoyed thin slices of one of the pies
Momma had brought by the day before, I wondered how things would be
tomorrow.
 
I’d be back at work, and
so would Jake.
 
Though he wouldn’t
be working his post with the state police, that didn’t mean that he wouldn’t be
on the job.
 
Would it change things
between us, this new dynamic?
 
I’d
been used to taking care of him for the past month, but he was way past needing
anything from me now, at least for healing purposes.
 
I hoped that he’d always need me
emotionally.
 
I just prayed that wouldn’t
change once he was running the investigation into Evelyn Martin’s murder.
 
I’d seen the professional Jake enough to
know how he could get while he was on a case.
 

It would just be my duty to remind him that the job
was one thing, and our relationship was something else altogether.

I had to hit the alarm clock twice before I finally
came fully awake the next morning.
 
How did I ever manage all those years on such little sleep?
 
As I took a quick shower, I realized
that there would be a nap in my future, and I wondered if I’d have enough
energy to investigate anything once I was back on my old schedule.
 
At least I’d have the shop to myself
before Emma came in.

I was wrong about that too, though.

When I pulled up in front of Donut Hearts, the lights
inside were already on, and Emma’s car was parked off to one side.

It appeared that my assistant had beaten me into work
on her first day back.
 
I wasn’t
sure that was a good sign or not as I unlocked the front door and let myself
in.

“Hey, Emma.
 
What are you doing here so early?” I asked as I took off my jacket and
hung it up in the back room.
 
At
least I started to, until I found the hook already occupied by Emma’s coat.

“Sorry about that,” she said as she reached for her
jacket in order to move it.

“Nonsense.
 
You can keep your coat there if you’d like.”

“No, it’s just a bad habit I got into,” she said as
she moved the coat to her old spot, a hook closer to the back door.
 
“There, that’s better.”

“I really don’t mind,” I said as I put my jacket
where it belonged, but it wasn’t entirely true.
 
Was I actually upset that Emma had taken
my coat hook when she’d been running the donut shop at my request?
 
Wow, I might have had more issues with the
situation than I realized.

Emma smiled tentatively after I put my apron on.
 
She said, “I’m sorry I’m early, but I’ve
been used to coming in at this time of the morning for a month, and nobody told
my body that I could sleep in a little today.”

“That’s fine,” I said.
 
“I understand completely.
 
I’ve had a tough time sleeping in
myself.”
 
I clapped my hands
together, and then I said with a smile, “Let’s get started, unless you’ve
already made a batch of donuts yourself this morning.”

“I’d be lying if I said that I wasn’t tempted, but
I’m fine going back to the way we had things before.”

That’s what she told me, anyway, but I wasn’t sure
that I believed her.
 
I knew that it
would have been tough for me to take orders from anyone else once I’d been in
charge.
 
I’d have to be careful
around Emma until we could figure out how to make things work again without
tiptoeing around each other.