A Case for the Cookie Baker Read online

  I have that same problem with inappropriate laughing. I’m just glad I didn’t do it during the funeral.

  The pair finally pulled themselves together.

  “Whew, sorry about that,” Jere said. “You probably think we’re nuts.”

  “Not at all,” the lawyer said.

  “We are. Do you understand what he’s asking us to do? This is the big finger to his mom. He loved her, but he also thought she was the devil incarnate. I take it they don’t know anything about this.”

  “No,” the attorney said. “Though his brother and mother have both reached out. There is a meeting set at the end of the week. I needed time to speak to the both of you first. This is a great deal of information for you to take in, and it was important that you hear the news as quickly as possible.”

  “Trust me, we understand,” Lizzie said. “I also appreciate that you did not invite us to hear all of this together. They probably would have killed us before we got out the door.”

  Was that the reason Mort had been murdered? Maybe, one of the family members found out about the will. Finally, we had a lead. Money is a big motive for murder. People are greedy.

  “It’s not my place, but did he make changes to his will recently?” I asked.

  “We went over it in the last six months on the phone. I do that with all of my clients. But this will hasn’t changed for three years.”

  “Oh, wow,” Jere said.

  “This wasn’t some mom made me mad this week decision,” Lizzie added. “He wanted us to do this.”

  “Man, I had no idea.” Jere’s voice was hoarse, as if he were trying not to cry. “There were some tough times a year ago with his family trying to get him kicked off the board of directors. I promised I would die for him, but he was not allowed to give up. Luckily, he owned the controlling interest. And the courts saw it that way,” Jere said. “If he hadn’t, so many farmers would have been put out of business because of the way things were set up. Mort said it was more important to invest in the people who provide the product.”

  “Do you think he maybe wondered if they’d try to kill him to get control?” I asked. And then threw my hand over my mouth. “Sorry. None of my business.”

  Lizzie shook her head. “His mother loved him a little too much. I can’t imagine her trying to hurt him.”

  Jere frowned. “You haven’t been around them the last few years. She was not happy with the golden boy. They would have made millions by being publicly traded, and all that woman has ever really loved is money.”

  Wow. Like I thought, money and greed. The two top reasons people were murdered.

  I needed to call my brother.

  Chapter Nine

  When I finally arrived home, all I wanted was a nap. But Jake’s truck was in my driveway. I’d really missed him the last few days. It’s funny how fast you can get used to someone always being around.

  I was about to yell, “Honey, I’m home,” when I stepped in, but a snore stopped me. Jake and George were on the couch sound asleep. My boyfriend must have worn my dog out for him to sleep so hard he didn’t hear me coming into the house.

  As I tiptoed past them, George lifted his head and opened one sleepy eye. Then he grunted and lay back down.

  Yep. They definitely did something to wear them both out.

  I put my stuff on the kitchen bar. The oven was on, so I checked the timer. It still had a half hour to go. It looked like lasagna. I loved Jake’s cooking, but I was surprised he’d make a lasagna because of the sugar in the sauce. Maybe he was making it for the guys at the station but he’d better give me a piece.

  I had every intention of changing clothes and then going back downstairs, but my bed looked so inviting.

  The next thing I knew, I had drool on the corner of my mouth and there were voices downstairs. Jake must have been talking to George.

  I yawned. I’d only been asleep a half hour, but I had that drugged zombie feeling. I washed my face and changed into comfy clothes, which was one of my giant unicorn T-shirts and the oldest pair of jean shorts I owned. They were so bad that I only wore them around the house.

  But when I turned the corner downstairs, I almost ran right back up.

  My dining table was full of people.

  “Uh.”

  Jake walked in with a salad, and kissed me on the cheek.

  “Gang’s here for dinner,” he said.

  “Kane just texted that he’ll be here in five,” my brother said. Lucy, a detective who worked with him and lived in his house—but they swore they weren’t dating—sat next to him. Shannon and Mike were also there, as was Jasmine.

  Our little gang had grown. “Hi. I didn’t know we were having company,” I said. “Do you need help?” I asked Jake.

  “Nope. Everything is ready. Go ahead and sit down.”

  My brain was still in zombie mode and I wasn’t really in the mood to be social. But I loved all these people, so I sat my butt down.

  “Greg was at the coffee shop and said he’d be stopping by tonight to catch up,” Shannon said. “And you probably don’t remember—I know Jake and Mike forgot—that we were having dinner tonight.” She smiled weirdly. “I mean, that was before the funeral and stuff. But I figured, we all had to eat. And then Greg said Kane was also coming, so I invited Jasmine.”

  Jasmine smiled knowingly.

  Oh. Ohhh. Right. This was Shannon’s idea. I had a feeling everyone knew exactly what was going on. My friend was not going to be left out of this conversation with my brother.

  “I—did remember—yesterday,” I said, covering for my friend. “But it was quite the day and I crashed as soon as I came home.”

  “Funerals always wear me out,” Jasmine said.

  Then it was really quiet as Jake brought in the lasagna. Funny, since this crowd was usually so loud we’d been asked to tone it down a few times when in restaurants.

  I give my brother a hard time but he isn’t dumb. He glanced around the table and then smirked. “Just tell us what happened,” Greg said. “But wait for Kane, or he’ll feel left out.”

  Everyone laughed. Kane walked in—none of them ever knocked anymore—and went to the bathroom to wash his hands. Then he sat down by Jasmine. They’d gone on a few dates, but she was still dealing with a lot of family stuff so they were taking things slow.

  “Spill,” Shannon said.

  I told them everything. From the mean mom, to the fact our friend Lizzie was in the middle of a crazy family feud.

  “Did anyone fit your description?” Kane asked, and then stuck a forkful of lasagna in his mouth.

  “What description?” Greg asked.

  Kane’s eyes opened wider. “I called Kane a while back to ask if him if he could tell the height of the person who killed Mort, but he said it was too big of a range. I’ve been wondering all this time if that guy I saw in the park had something to do with it. But Kane, reluctantly mentioned that the person would have a lot of arm strength to swing—well, uh, so hard.” We were eating dinner. There was no reason to go over those details.

  “And?”

  I shrugged. “Only most of the people at the church.” As I said it, a vision of the back of a man’s neck came into my mind but he wasn’t from the church.

  I closed my eyes. It was the guy from the park. When he ran past, there was something on his neck. The top of an I or an L, with a fancy serif. And then it was gone.

  When I opened my eyes, everyone was staring at me.

  “What did you see?” Lucy asked. She had her pen and notebook. I don’t know where she kept them, but they always seemed to be in her hand.

  “It won’t help,” I said. “I can only see the top of it.”

  “Just tell us,” Greg said.

  “It was either the letter L or I on his neck. The T-shirt he wore covered the rest. But it was words tattooed, or a mark. I only saw it for a second as his arm came down when he was running. And it was so dark, it could have been a shadow.”

  Greg rubbed the br
idge of his nose. He always did that when he was thinking hard about something. “When did you say the reading of the will is?”

  “The lawyer said at the end of the week. I’m worried Gran and Becky might be in danger. You say the killer is probably far away, but what if someone found out about the will?”

  My brother frowned and stared down at his plate. He hated when I was right.

  “Ainsley may be onto something,” Lucy said. “With that much money on the line, we’re going to need more staff. We’ve got to cover the hospital, the baker, her assistant and your sister.”

  Jake’s fork clattered to the plate. “Why is Ains in danger?”

  “She may have seen the killer and the family knows her face. My guess is they would hire someone, which might make it easier.”

  Wait. A hired killer. I wasn’t so hungry anymore. Mrs. Whedon and Becky might have seen him, as well.

  “Maybe they had him follow the victim and wanted him to make it look like the baker had done it. But the family, from what Ainsley says, wasn’t that close anymore. They might not know they were still such good friends. Setting her up backfired. We better cover all the bases on Friday. Maybe, before. She’s right—maybe they already know. They could have been after the baker and were surprised by the victim.”

  “Yeah,” Greg grumbled. “Better let the team know. Ains, is there anything else?”

  I still wasn’t awake yet. Maybe, I should have had some coffee before this conversation. “You’re worried about people in the crosshairs, right?”

  He nodded. “You better protect Jere—he was Mort’s assistant. Half of those shares go to him.”

  “I’ll contact the chief of police over there. They need to watch the house anyway.”

  The house. “Oh, one more thing. The house, and the ranch they live on, all belongs to Lizzie now. After a few tequila shots at our late lunch, she was ready to go over there and kick them out. Luckily, she passed out in my car before she could follow through. She’s at home sleeping it off.”

  Greg rubbed his head again. “Do you think she’ll do it?”

  I shook my head. “I don’t think she’ll go anywhere near them sober. But it’s one more reason for them to be angry with her.”

  “We can’t cover all of them,” Lucy said. “Not in the middle of tourists season. And then we have the festival next week.”

  Crud. The festival. With all the drama, I’d forgotten about it. I needed to check and make sure our booth was ready to roll. And I still hadn’t gone over the sketches for the float.

  “And it’s Ainsley’s birthday,” Shannon added.

  “If it will help, they could stay with me this weekend,” Jasmine said. “I have a security team with me at all times and we were already doing a girls’ weekend for Ainsley’s birthday.”

  “That’s very sweet of you,” I said, “but I have to work. At least, part of Saturday. And Lizzie won’t want to close the bakery again. Or maybe she will. I know she’s dealing with too much right now.”

  “Are you sure?” Greg asked Jasmine, as if I weren’t sitting right here.

  “Yes. You guys have all done so much for me. I’m happy to help out. That way, at least on Friday, they are all in one place, except for Mrs. Whedon.”

  “Jasmine, I can have them come here,” I said. “I don’t want to put you out.”

  “My house is bigger. I don’t mean that as a brag, but until this case is cleared up, it will be easier for everyone. If Lizzie wants to work, one of my guys can take her into the bakery, and then maybe Greg’s guys can keep an eye out. It’s just for the weekend, and it’ll be fun. Besides, if you stay here, you’ll just sit around and worry.”

  I was going to worry no matter what. I glanced at the back door. What if the killer had been out in the woods behind my house?

  “Okay. I’ll see what I can do about shifts at the store. But I’ve been missing a lot.”

  Shannon shook her head. “Everyone loves you, and all you have to do is tell them to be on the lookout for a killer with a tattoo on his neck.”

  “No!” Greg shouted.

  Shannon and I jumped.

  “Sorry,” he said. “It’s just, the fewer people who know about all of this, the better. And the last thing we want is the killer to know we’re closing in.”

  “All right.” Shannon frowned. “But if I see someone walk into the shop with a tattoo on their neck, I’m calling you.”

  Greg rolled his eyes.

  “I’ve got to work on Friday night, but I can help keep an eye out on Saturday,” Jake said.

  “Me too,” Kane added.

  Jasmine stared at him.

  “What?”

  “It’s a girls’ weekend and I have security guards.”

  “Right, so two more won’t hurt,” he said. “We’ll stay out of your way. It’s a big house.”

  I laughed and covered it with a cough.

  He reminded me of Jake when he was in protective mode.

  “Wait. I thought you had to work tonight?” I turned to Jake.

  He grinned. “What? And miss out on all of this? That’s why I have to work Friday. I traded with one of the guys.”

  I felt like we had our own little Scooby gang. We even had the Great Dane. Well, right now George was passed out on the sofa in his favorite spot.

  “Then it’s settled,” said Greg. “We’ll see what happens after the reading of the will. Ainsley, when you went to lunch, did you meet anyone who might have been a former lover? Anyone who might fit that bill?”

  I chewed on my lip, and I tried to remember who was at the big table where we’d eaten. I’d been more focused on the fact that Jere and Lizzie were going shot-for-shot with the tequila.

  “No. But I could ask Jere. He was also Mort’s friend. He might know. I can call to check up on him. He was pretty rough when I dropped him off at his apartment.”

  “I want everyone at this table to understand something. We are looking at the family, but this also could have been a jealous lover. Or a robbery interrupted. We have absolutely no proof the family had anything to do with the murder or that they know about the will. Do you understand? The killer could be anyone,” Greg lectured. “Be aware of your surroundings at all times.

  “This is not a game.” He stared at me when he said that. “Anyone who might have seen the killer is in danger. Don’t go anywhere alone and make sure someone knows your whereabouts at all times.”

  “That’s a weird word.”

  Greg frowned at me.

  “Whereabouts. It’s two words put together that have just never made sense to me. I just always thought it was weird.”

  Everyone around the table chuckled.

  Greg sighed. “Ains, promise me you’ll be careful.”

  “I will.” It’s not like I tried to get into trouble. For some reason, it always seemed to find me.

  Chapter Ten

  The next morning, Jake dropped George and me off at the shop. I put my stuff in the office and went through the store before anyone else arrived.

  Sometimes I forgot all of this was mine. It was such a team effort with all my artists and craftspeople. I was living the dream and I worked with some of the most amazing humans I’d ever met.

  I walked by Mrs. Whedon’s booth. All of her beautiful yarn was stacked neatly. Jake had promised to pick me up at lunch to go visit her at the hospital. They’d moved her out of ICU, so at least there was that.

  I straightened up her stacks the way she liked them, and then went back to get some inventory. By the time I’d finished cleaning up her booth, several of the other vendors had arrived.

  We all worked in sync getting ready to open the shop. I never had to tell anyone what to do. They just did it. I’d never worked anywhere like my shop Bless Your Art. It’s true what they say. Surround yourself with the best people and you’ll be amazed by the results.

  It was like walking into my happy place every day. Though, sometimes, especially during the busy seasons, I had to remind
myself that I was living my dream.

  Around lunchtime, things slowed down a bit. As promised, Jake showed up. Carrie promised to take George for his afternoon stroll, so I headed out.

  When we arrived at the hospital, Jake pulled two lunch bags out of the back seat of his truck. “I thought we could have lunch with Gran.”

  I kissed his cheek. “You are the best man ever.”

  He laughed. “I try. I know it’s tough for you. She’s family, but I feel like the more normal we pretend things are, the more likely she is to come back to us.”

  I nodded. There was no way I could speak, I was so choked up. I was in love with a man, who was so thoughtful. A guy who would sit in a hospital room with his girlfriend and eat a sack lunch to keep Gran company.

  I guess it’s a day for remembering blessings.

  A bit of her color had come back to her face, and several of the tubes had been taken out. The nurse was checking her vitals when we walked in.

  “How is she?” Jake asked.

  “Doc says pretty good. The swelling has gone down a great deal in the last forty-eight hours. And we’ve seen more REM activity in the eyes. That’s usually a great sign.”

  My heart flipped in my chest with joy.

  “Is she out of danger?” I asked.

  “Medical professionals will never say for sure, but that she’s improving at a steady rate is great. Her blood pressure, which was going from extreme highs to lows, has settled down.”

  After she left, I sat down. I was on one side of the bed, Jake on the other.

  “Hey, Gran, Jake and I decided to have lunch with you today.”

  “That’s right, Gran,” Jake said. “I have to make Ains’s lunch now so that I know she’ll eat something besides cookies all day.”

  “Ya pass out from blood sugar problems one time, and the man goes crazy. I’m not going to lie though, his lunches are really good.”

  I opened my first plastic container. “Whoo-hoo, hummus. Gran, you know how much you love Jake’s hummus. If you wake up, I’ll share. And yes, that’s a bribe.”