M&M Surprise Murder: A Donut Hole Cozy Mystery - Book 17 (4 page)

Heather sat at one of the tables in
the front of the store, laptop open and stress radiating down her spine.
“Another order just in came in,” she yelled.

Maricela banged the kitchen door open
and leaned out. “What is it, boss?”

“Three more boxes of M&M Surprises.
They need to be shipped out this afternoon, or we’re going to lose the order.
Can you guys handle it?”

Maricela gave her the thumbs up, then
disappeared into the kitchen.

Her assistants shouted at each other
within. These weren’t panicked screams, but ones born from necessity.

The construction next door peaked in
the mornings.

Amy entered the store, bell jingle
masked by the drilling and hammering and ugh, every other annoying sound that
existed. “Is that an angle grinder? What are they cutting, for heaven’s sakes?”

“I can’t deal with that, right now,”
Heather said and held up a palm. She directed it toward the far wall as if to
push the noise from her presence. Pity it didn’t work. “We received three
orders in the last two hours. Can you believe it?”

“I can. Your donuts are delicious.”
Amy shut the door behind her, then strode to the table. “Mind if I sit with the
boss?”

“Take a seat, hon, I need your help
with something, anyway.” Pressure built in Heather’s mind. The case, the test,
the orders. She hummed tunelessly, for a change.

She was so stressed that she couldn’t
bring a song to mind.

Amy sat down in the chair next to her
and narrowed her eyes at the screen. “What’s up, doc?”

“Check this out,” Heather said. She
clicked on the mousepad and opened the Google Chrome search she’d typed in a
half an hour earlier. She clicked on the first article, and it opened.

Bold print ran across the top of the
screen.

Jessica Laverne: The Scandal that
Broke the Olympic Dream.

“Say what now?” Amy asked.

“Read it,” Heather replied. “The
article was written a couple of weeks ago. By one of the reporters at the
Hillside Gazette.”

“Jessica ‘Jinx’ Laverne had it all.
Olympic dreams which were set to be fulfilled, until the fateful day her dirty
secret was revealed.” Amy paused, then cleared her throat. “I feel like they
could’ve written this better.”

“Read on,” Heather said and waved a
hand. “It gets better. Or worse, depending on your perspective.”

“Jessica’s father bribed several
officials at the national archery competition in 2008. Now, she’s returned to
Hillside for the Annual Archery Content 2016. It remains to be seen whether
she’ll be able to perform under the watchful eye of her old coach, and nemesis,
Kyle Henson.” Amy jerked back. “Nemesis? Are you kidding? Jinx said he was the
best.”

“She lied,” Heather replied. “Maybe
she didn’t want to implicate herself, or maybe she needs to be implicated, I
don’t know. But she lied. Henson kicked her off the team because of this ‘dirty
scandal’ which adds another layer of complexity to this donut of a case.”

Amy tapped the mousepad and scrolled
down the article. “Judges, yadda yadda, hey! Look at this.” She poked the
screen.

“Careful, you’ll break it,” Heather
said.

“Oh relax, it’s a laptop, not a
porcelain doll,” Amy whispered, then leaned in. “I know her.”

“Who?”

“The other judge,” Amy said. “That’s
Leticia Jackson, right? I knew I recognized her name when Lilly said it.”

“Who is she?” Heather asked.

“I know you don’t follow the sport, so
I’ll let this faux pas slide.” The corners of Amy’s lips twitched upward.
“Leticia Jackson was a gold medalist in the Beijing Olympics 2008. Women’s
archery. I can’t believe she’s judging this one. She’s huge. She’s an
Olympian.”

Heather examined the picture and
pinched her chin. “Interesting. I wonder if she knew Kyle? Maybe we should pay
her a visit too. Find out what she knows, who she knows.”

“Wow, she made it in 2008, the same
year that Jinx’s scandal came to light. That’s a coincidence for the archery
history books,” Amy said.

“There aren’t any coincidence.”
Heather leaned back in her seat and folded her arms. She crossed her ankles and
rocked her legs from side-to-side. “No coincidences.”

“Should we go speak to her?”

“Not right now. There’s too much work
to attend to here, and we’ve got Lilly coming over for another girl’s night
tonight, remember?” Heather asked.

Amy grinned. “Yeah, that’s going to be
great. We need some time off from the donuts and the case.”

Heather clicked her tongue. “Right.
Yeah.” But she couldn’t help narrowing her eyes at the image on the screen.
“Jinx. That’s a mean nickname.”

“What do you mean?”

“Why do you think they call her that?
Because she’s jinxed, probably.” Heather sighed and rose from the table at
last. “And I will be too if I don’t get some of these orders filled.”

“On it!” Amy hopped up. They hurried
to the kitchen.

The door swung inward and bathed them
in the sweet scents of donut-making delight.

Heather’s doorbell trilled, and a
knock rattled the wood.

“Oh, that must be Lilly,” she said and
patted Dave on the head.

His soft ears popped up at the mention
of her name, and he barked, then darted off the sofa and scrabbled for the
door.

“He’s eager,” Amy said and sat back
against the cushions on her side of the room. She lifted an M&M Surprise
donut to her lips, took a bite, then chased it with a sip of thick, malt choc
shake.

Heather rose and walked through to the
entrance hall, heart light for the first time in a week. Life was stressful,
complicated even, but nothing cheered her up like a good old-fashioned girl’s
night.

And they had Olympic Gymnastics to
watch.

Dave barked and turned in circles on
the spot.

“All right, all right, relax.” Heather
drew back the bronze bolt, then opened up.

Lilly stood on the welcome mat with
her hands straight at her sides. Her lips trembled, and tears dripped from the
sides of her jaw.

“Lilly?” Heather asked. “What
happened?”

The girl rushed into the house and
through her arms around Heather’s middle. She sobbed noisily into Heather’s
shirt.

“What’s going on?” Amy yelled from the
lounge. Footsteps echoed through the living room, and Heather’s bestie appeared
in the hall. “Oh my gosh, what happened?”

Heather shut the front door, then
grasped Lilly’s arms and detached her from the hug. She sank in front of the
girl. “What’s going on, Lils?”

Lilly sniffled and hiccupped. She
wiped her nose with the back of her hand. “I tried to stay out of her way,
Au-Heather. I really did.”

“Who?” Amy asked. Dave whined and
licked Lilly’s ankles.

Heather’s stomach sank. “What did she
do?”

“Who?”

“Elizabeth.” Heather sighed. “She’s an
archer living with Colleen and Bill for the competition, and she’s been mean to
Lilly. What did she say this time?”

“She told me,” Lilly said, then burst
into a fresh stream of tears. “She told me that I’m a loser and good for
nothing. And she said that no one likes me.”

“What a piece of work,” Amy whispered.
“Lilly, you know those things aren’t true, right?”

“She said that Bill and Colleen don’t
like being my foster parents and that they’re just waiting to dump me in
someone else’s house,” Lilly continued.

Anger emerged in Heather’s chest and
streaked through her veins. “This is unacceptable.”

“You said I should tell you,” Lilly
replied, and hiccupped again.

“Yeah, I did,” Heather said. “You did
the right thing, Lils.” She hugged Lilly tight, and the girl rested her head on
Heather’s shoulder. “Lilly, you’re everything to a lot of people. Everyone
loves you. You know that right?”

Lilly’s little body trembled. “They
do?”

“Of course,” Heather whispered. “Amy,
Ryan and I love you. Dave too. And Eva. And everyone at Donut Delights. And I’m
sure that Elizabeth is making up stories about Bill and Colleen. They love you
too.”

Lilly clung to Heather and sobbed some
more.

Heather looked up at her bestie,
frozen between horror and rage. “Ames? Will you take Lilly into the living room
and give her a donut or two? And a milkshake. I’ve got a call to make.”

“You got it,” Ames replied.
“Anything.”

Heather pulled back from the hug, then
wiped the tears from Lilly’s face with her thumbs. “You’re awesome. Now, you’d
better get in there and eat some sweets before Dave steals them all.”

Lilly coughed out a giggle. Amy
offered her hand and Lilly took it. The two of them disappeared into the living
room, closely tailed by an alarmed Dave.

Heather rose from her crouch and took
her cell out of her pocket. Somebody was about to get a stern reprimand.

She dialed Bill and Colleen’s home
number, then pressed the phone to her ear.

“Yeah?” A woman answered, and her
arrogance leaked down the line.

“Is that Elizabeth?”

“Yeah, who’s this?” Elizabeth asked,
then yawned.

“My name is Heather Shepherd, and I
know you’ve been bullying Lilly Jones. You’d better back off.”

“Whatever, that kid’s a useless little
liar. I didn’t do anything wrong,” Elizabeth said. “And who are you to threaten
me?”

“I’m the wife of a Detective at
Hillside PD, and if you don’t leave Lilly alone, I’ll report you for child
abuse,” Heather thundered, losing her temper for the first time in years. She
sucked in two deep breaths to calm herself. “Now, put Colleen on the phone,
immediately.”

Silence and then muffled voices,
scraping and then Colleen’s voice. “Hello?”

“Colleen,” Heather said, brusquely.
“This is Heather. I’ve just finished consoling Lilly after your guest verbally
abused her.”

“Pardon me?”

“You heard me correctly. Lilly arrived
a few minutes ago for our girl’s night and burst into tears. Elizabeth has been
bullying her.”

“Are you serious?” Colleen asked,
shock resonating in her tone. “I had no idea.”

“I suggest you sort this issue out
before I do,” Heather replied. “Lilly will be sleeping over here tonight. Is
that clear?”

Colleen cleared her throat. “Yes,
Heather. Thanks for bringing this to my attention.”

“That’s fine,” Heather replied. “That
woman should be ashamed of herself, bullying a little girl.” Then she hung up.
She grasped the phone in her hand and squeezed it.

She had to calm down, or she’d upset
Lilly all over again. Heather took a deep breath, held it in for three counts,
then exhaled slowly. Everything would be fine. Lilly was safe, and that was all
that mattered.

If only the girl could stay with
Heather and Ryan full time. Heather shook her head to clear it, then strode
into the living room.

Lilly shifted on the sofa, gripping a
donut in one hand and a glass of milkshake in the other. “Is everything fine?”

“Yeah, I spoke to Colleen. She’ll sort
this out, Lils. And you get to spend the night here with us,” Heather said and
grinned. “You can stay in the guest bedroom.”

Lilly sagged against the cushions and
let out a sigh. “Thanks, Heather.”

“As long as you’re okay, now,” Heather
said.

“I’m fine. I guess this is all my
fault.” Lilly pulled a face.

“What? No way,” Amy said. “How could
it be your fault?”

Lilly bit her bottom lip and lowered
her gaze. “I eavesdropped on her phone conversation.”

“That’s no reason for her to –”

Heather waved and cut Amy off
mid-sentence. “What did she say?”

“She was speaking to somebody about
that judge guy that died. She said that she hoped Lori and Coach Hardy would
get caught.”

“Caught?” Heather asked, then touched
her fingers to the wrinkles on her brow.

Dave hopped onto the sofa, then wormed
into Lilly’s lap and settled down.

“Yeah, that was when she saw me and
said all those things. I didn’t hear anything other than that.”

“That’s okay, honey, you just relax
and enjoy that donut, all right?” Amy said, and slipped an arm around Lilly’s
shoulders.

Heather paced back to her sofa and
glared out of the window. Coach Hardy and Lori, eh? Another lead had just
popped up.

Heather sat on a cushy stool in front
of the counter at the Burrito Barn and picked at the egg wrap on her plate. She
couldn’t rid herself of the image of Lilly’s tear-streaked face. The poor girl
had been through enough, already. She didn’t need pain or bullying in her life.

“There you are,” Ryan said and placed
his palm on her upper back. “What made you choose this place?”

“Well, I figured we can’t go to Dos
Chicos for every meal, especially, not a brunch,” Heather replied.

Ryan kissed her on the forehead, then
sat down on the stool beside hers. “What’s wrong?”

“What? Nothing.”

“My love, I can tell when something’s
on your mind,” Ryan said, then shook his head. “Come on. Tell me.”

“You didn’t come home in time to see
it, but Lilly was super upset last night. The woman who’s staying with Colleen
said a lot of mean stuff to her. She was in tears,” Heather replied. She picked
up her diet soda, then sipped from the straw peeking out of the can.

“You’re kidding.”

“Not even a little bit. And there’s
more. This woman, Elizabeth whatever, was on the phone talking about Lori and
Coach Hardy a couple of minutes before she bullied her.” Heather shook her
head. “That didn’t come out right.”

“It came out just fine,” Ryan said,
then waggled a finger at the waitress nearest to them.

She hurried over, carrying a menu.
“May I help you, officer?” She asked, plastering up a too-sweet smile.

“Yeah, please bring me a cup of coffee
and whatever my wife is having, thanks,” Ryan said, then turned back to
Heather. He dusted off his smart, blue shirt, then placed his hands on top of
the counter.

“I was so furious, Ryan, I phone that
woman and I, well, I’m not proud, but I yelled at her.” Heather trembled, then
grabbed her soda can to calm herself. She drank deeply and inhaled through her
nose.

“I bet you were,” her husband replied.
“I’m angry just hearing about it. But there’s not much we can do. We have to
trust that Bill and Colleen will do the right thing and protect Lilly.”

“I guess,” Heather said, and regret
scoured her heart. Colleen and Bill’s stock had dropped in her books.

“But, it’s interesting you should
mention Lori,” Ryan said. He paused to accept the cup of coffee from the
waiter. He picked up two sachets of sugar, flicked them against his palm, then
tore them open and dumped them into the liquid.

“Why? What did you find out?” Heather
asked. She shoved the breakfast wrap away. She’d get it wrapped up for later.

“Lori is the sole recipient of Kyle’s
substantial life insurance policy. It’s going to pay out to her, pretty darn
soon.” Ryan slurped on his coffee and sandwiched the cup between his palms.

“So, she had a lot of motive. Too much
motive.” Heather drummed her fingertips on the cream-colored countertop.
“Having an affair, marriage going down the drain and now this.”

“Precisely. We’re bringing her in for
questioning, but we don’t have enough evidence placing her at the scene of the
crime.”

“No fingerprints on the murder
weapon?” Heather asked.

“No, the carbon splintered on impact,
and what was left of the shaft had been wiped down,” Ryan replied.

“Oh boy.” Heather sucked up the last
of her soda and then rattled the empty can. She placed it down on the counter,
and the hollow tin clicked on the surface. “That doesn’t help much.”

“Why?” Ryan asked, gaze searching her
for answers.

“The last time an insurance policy
paid out, it was to Jung who didn’t commit the crime, remember? Just because
she’s benefitting from this, doesn’t mean she did it,” Heather said. “But what
that horrible Elizabeth woman said about Lori and Coach Hardy interests me. A
lot.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah, we saw Lori with someone the
other day. What if it was him?” Heather asked. “What if Coach Hardy did it to
help Lori get rid of her husband.”

“Kind of like a Bonnie and Clyde
affair?” Ryan asked. “That’s interesting. We should split into two fact-finding
groups on this one.”

Heather glanced around the bustling
restaurant. A young family sat in one of the booths, eating and joking. The
young boy leaned his head on his dad’s shoulder.

“What do you mean?” She asked,
switching her focus back to her husband.

“I mean, I’ll question Lori at the
station, and you find out what Coach Hardy’s been up to. How does that sound?”

“It sounds like you want me to be your
consultant,” Heather replied.

Ryan threw back his head and laughed.
“Just another week and you will be. This is strictly off the record. Don’t
mention my name.”

“Thanks for trusting me with this,
hon,” Heather replied, then leaned in and pecked him on the cheek.

“You have a proven track record,
Heather Shepherd. I’d trust you with my life.”