Custard Crime: Donut Mystery #14 (The Donut Mysteries) (27 page)

Would the flames get me first, or the smoke?
 

I’d read that the best thing to do in a fire was to
go as low as possible, so I eased myself down onto the floor.
 
But I still wasn’t ready to die, no
matter how it might come.

Bracing my back and my bound hands behind me, I
started pushing the door with my feet.
 

Thankfully, it wasn’t a walk-in closet, but a fairly
narrow affair.

Pushing didn’t work.

It was time to kick.

Why had I worn tennis shoes today instead of my old
hiking boots?

I kicked out, again and again, with all my strength,
as the smoke continued to creep into my little jail cell.
 
It was hopeless.
 
The house was old and solidly built, and
the door was thick wood, not a cheap modern variety.

Coughing, I drew my legs back again, and I kicked
outward with everything I had.

I was rewarded with the splintering sound of the
doorframe as it broke.

But was I really any better off than I had been?

The living room was ablaze, and as the flames crept
up the far wall, I could feel the heat on my face as the smoke intensified.

I wasn’t going to die like this if I could help it.

I inched my way across the floor and into the
kitchen, where the flames were just beginning to touch.
 
The air was heavy with the smell of
gasoline, and I knew that it would be seconds before I had any chance of
escaping at all.
 

Bracing against the kitchen window, just opposite the
same place that Grace and I had spied on Chief Martin not that long ago, I
worked myself up to a standing position.

How was I going to get out, though?

With my hands still firmly tied behind me, I reached
down and managed to pick up a barstool.

The problem was that I couldn’t do anything with it.

I tried shoving it against the window, but I couldn’t
break the glass, no matter how hard I tried.

The smoke was getting thicker now, the flames hotter.

There was one, last-chance act of desperation left.

Against all good judgment, I moved quickly
toward
the smoke and flames instead of
away from them, holding my breath the entire time.

Then, with every last ounce of strength I had left, I
ran backward as hard as I could, holding the stool like a battering ram.

It felt like forever, but finally, I heard the glass
crash as I fell backward into the bush I’d hidden behind, and I could smell sweet,
glorious, fresh air again.

I wasn’t sure how long I lay there, but the next
thing I knew, Jake was kneeling beside me, freeing my arms and taking me up in
his.

And that was when I blacked out again, from the
stress, the relief, and the wonder, that somehow, I’d managed to escape with my
life.

Unfortunately, so had Conrad Swoop.

Chapter 25

When I woke up, Jake was holding my hand.
 
I was in the hospital, and there was an
oxygen tube in my nose.

“Jake, Conrad Swoop killed Evelyn!” I tried to lift
myself up in bed as I warned him, but he put a hand on my shoulder and I
slipped back down.

“Take it easy, Suzanne.
 
I got him.”

“I thought he escaped,” I said.

“He almost did.
 
I’ve been chasing him all day, and I finally caught him trying to leave
town.
 
I’m afraid I owe the city of
April Springs one police cruiser.
 
I
had to wreck him before he’d stop.”

“I’m sure they’ll forgive you for doing it,” I said,
and then I coughed a little.
 
“Jake,
can I have some water?”

He held a cup up to my lips, and I took a small
sip.
 
It felt wonderful.

“How did you find me?” I asked.
 
“I can’t believe you came to my rescue.”

“No way am I taking credit for that,” Jake said with
a smile.
 
“You came to your own
rescue.
 
I had to cut the cord off
your wrists myself.
 
How did you
manage to throw that chair through the window and escape?”

“I didn’t exactly throw it,” I said.
 

“Then what did you do?”

“I picked it up and ran at the window with it.”

“Backwards?” he asked incredulously.

“You never know what you can do until you have to,” I
said.

Jake stroked a stray strand of hair out of my face as
he leaned forward and whispered, “I can’t believe that I almost lost you.”

“I wasn’t about to let Conrad kill me if I could help
it.
 
How did you know to come
looking for me when you did?”

“As I cuffed him, Conrad said that at least he got
some satisfaction out of getting rid of you.
 
He wouldn’t say another word, even when
I pushed him harder than I probably should have, but as I got close to him I
smelled gasoline.
 
I looked at the
skyline and followed the smoke from there.”

“You just left him in the back of your car?”

“I wrecked mine, remember?” he asked with a
grin.
 
“Actually, he was in Grant’s
vehicle.
 
Officer Grant is a good
man, I’ll tell you that.
 
If he
hadn’t been there to pull me off Conrad, I’m not sure what I would have done.”

“You wouldn’t have hurt him,” I said, confident that
Jake’s better nature would have kicked in.

“Don’t kid yourself.
 
When I thought about what he might have
done to you, all bets were off.”

“We’re both okay now, so that’s really all that
matters.”

He kissed my forehead lightly as Momma and Chief
Martin came bursting in.

“I just heard,” my mother said as she rushed to the
free side of my bed.
 
“Suzanne, are
you okay?”

“I’m a little bruised, and my throat’s sore, but all
in all, I’m just dandy,” I said.

“You won’t rest until you scare me to death, will
you?” she asked with a smile as a tear ran down her cheek.

“Momma, I swear, I was trying to stay out of trouble,
but it managed to find me, anyway.”

She laughed at that.
 
“That’s my baby girl.”

“I haven’t been a baby in a pretty long time,” I said
in a raspy voice.

“In my eyes, you’ll always be my baby,” she
said.
 
Then Momma turned to
Jake.
 
“Thank you.”

“For what?
 
I hope nobody thinks that your daughter needed saving, because she
managed to do it all on her own without any help from me, or anyone else, for
that matter.”

“I wasn’t talking about that.
 
I heard you caught Evelyn’s killer.”

Jake shrugged.
 
“It was a team effort.”

The sheriff stepped forward and shook Jake’s
hand.
 
“I can’t tell you how much we
appreciate it.”

“My pleasure.
 
Chief Martin, we need to talk about one of your men.”

The chief’s face fell.
 
“Why, did one of them mess up?”

“On the contrary.
 
Why do you have Officer Grant riding a
desk so much?
 
He’s a fine man, and
an excellent law enforcement officer.”

“I know that,” the chief said, “and if anyone tells
him I said this, I’ll deny it, but I hope that he’ll take my place one day.”

“Perhaps one day soon,” Momma said.

“Is there something that I should know about?” I
asked her.

“No, we’re just talking,” Momma said.

“Nothing but idle chatter,” the chief added, echoing
her sentiment.
 
“Are you okay,
Suzanne?
 
What you did today was a
brave thing.”

“Thanks, but how brave is self-preservation?
 
I did what I had to do to survive.”

“Well, not everyone would be as strong as you were,”
he said.
 
“I’m proud of you.”

“Thanks,” I said, and then I saw Momma crying
again.
 
“If you all don’t mind, I’m
pretty worn out.
 
Can we do this
later?”

“Of course,” Momma said.
 
“Phillip, let’s go get some of that
abysmal hospital coffee they serve here.”

“I’ll go, too,” Jake said.

“Can you hang back for a second?” I asked him.

“I’ll do whatever you want me to do,” he said.

After Momma and the chief were gone, I said, “I’m
glad you caught Conrad.”

“He’s where he belongs now,” Jake answered.
 
“When I think about what he almost did
to you—”

“Don’t focus on that.
 
The only thing I’m sorry about is that
you have to go back to work.
 
I’m
going to miss you.”

“You won’t have time to, at least not right away,” he
said with a grin.
 
“I put in for two
weeks’ vacation so I can take care of you for a change.”

“Oh, I’ll bet your boss just loved that.
 
How loudly did he say no?”

“He wasn’t happy about it, but he ended up giving
in,” Jake said.

“What did you do, threaten to quit again?”

“Hey, if it keeps working, why change strategies?”

“One of these days he’s going to call your
bluff.
 
You know that, don’t you?” I
asked him.

“When he does, he may just find out that I wasn’t
bluffing after all.”

What did he mean by that?
 
“Jake, what are you thinking right now?”

He stroked my hair again, something I loved to have
him do, as he said, “Suzanne, I lost someone, two someones actually, that meant
the heaven and earth to me, once in my life, and I’m not about to let it happen
again.”

“I love you, Jake, but you can’t live the rest of
your life worrying about my safety.
 
You know that, don’t you?”

“Tell you what,” Jake said with a smile as he stood
up.
 
“Why don’t we save this
conversation for when you’re feeling better?
 
Right now, all you need to do is focus
on getting better.”

“That I can do,” I said, and then I groaned a little.

“Are you in pain?” Jake asked, suddenly alarmed.

“No, not any more than I was before, anyway.
 
I just realized that I won’t be able to
open the donut shop tomorrow.”

Jake laughed, a sound I was nearly certain not that
long ago that I’d never hear again.
 
It sounded better to me than a string quartet.
 
“Emma has already been by.
 
She and her mother are going to run
Donut Hearts until you can get back to work.”

“Then I know that it’s in good hands,” I said as I
settled back down in the bed.

After Jake was gone, I had a little time to reflect
on what had happened.
 
Conrad Swoop
had tried his best to end my life, but I’d fought him, and I’d won.
 
But more importantly, my brush with
death had reminded me to focus on what was important in my life: my family, my
friends, and most of all, Jake.

I wasn’t all that excited about being on the
sidelines again as I recovered from the fire, but at least I’d have him with
me, and that was a win any day of the week.

RECIPES

COW, SPOTS, AND MOOSE DONUTS

This recipe, and the one that follows just below, are for the many fans
of Emily Hargraves and her beloved stuffed animals, who are alive to everyone
who truly sees them.
 
Cow, Spots,
and Moose are, in real life, three stuffed friends my daughter had when she was
growing up, and though she has since graduated college and moved out on her
own, Spots is still with her to this day.
 
Don’t feel bad for Cow or Moose, though.
 
Spots always travels home with my
daughter when she visits, so there are reunions all of the time.
 
In our circle, if you don’t buy into the
fact that the three of them are alive, you don’t get very far with any of
us.
 
I could go on and on about
them, but they are already quite pleased with themselves for making it into
this series in the first place, and anything more would be just too much.

So, why is this recipe called Cow, Spots, and Moose Donuts?
 
That’s easy.
 
Like the cows, they are white with black
spots, or is it black with white spots?
 
The story changes every time they tell it, so I was forced to do two
recipes for this book.
 
This one
features a white donut mix with semi-sweet chocolate chips mixed into the dough.
 

I hope you enjoy them as much as the guys seem to!
 

INGREDIENTS

DRY

4 cups bread flour

1 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2 dashes of salt

WET

1 egg, beaten

1 cup buttermilk

1/3 cup sour cream

For the glaze:

1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate

1/2 cup heavy cream

For the white spots:

White icing

For the antlers:

Broken mini-pretzels

Oil for Frying

Canola or peanut, about 6 cups

DIRECTIONS