M&M Surprise Murder: A Donut Hole Cozy Mystery - Book 17 (7 page)

Heather clomped up the front stairs to
Bill and Colleen’s, her mind turning the case over and over again. Jessica
Laverne, Jessica Laverne. The name repeated in her mind.

Why would a young woman need to bribe
judges when she had the talent? And why would she have killed for a small town
competition?

Heather knocked on the front door,
then scratched her chin. She’d promised Lilly she’d take her for a bike ride,
this afternoon since Colleen had finally lifted the ban on the activity.

The latch clicked, and the door swung
inward. A tall woman in bright blue sweat pants and a white cotton shirt stood
on the threshold.

“Who are you?” She asked, and her
upper lip curled back to reveal two yellow incisors.

“I’m Heather, and I’m here to pick up
Lilly.” Heather paused and folded her arms. “Who are you?”

“Elizabeth.”

Heather ground her teeth until they
squeaked, then walked past the young woman and to the bottom of the stairs.
“Lils, I’m here for our day date.”

“Coming, Au-Heather,” Lilly yelled
from upstairs. Her footsteps pattered around upstairs. “I’m just getting my
helmet. Ugh, it’s so ugly.”

“Safety first,” Heather replied.

“Uh, can you stop screaming? I was
trying to have an adult conversation before you turned up,” Elizabeth said,
behind her.

Heather breathed deeply, but it didn’t
calm her one iota. “And what would you know about an adult conversation?”
Heather asked. She turned to face the younger woman, then froze. Her jaw
dropped. “What are you doing here?”

Coach Hardy leaned against the
doorjamb, his back to Bill and Colleen’s kitchen. Sunlight streamed through the
window behind him, glancing off the white tiles and counters.

He folded his arms and stared at her.
“I’m here to discuss Elizabeth’s career. Not that it’s any of your business,
woman.”

Heather looked at Elizabeth, the adult
bully, to Coach Hardy, the sweaty man with a bad attitude. “What about Jessica?
You’re going to coach two women for the same competition?”

“No, not this time. Jessica’s gone,”
Hardy replied. He shrugged. “She took off without telling me a thing. Not even
a goodbye. And she stole my arrows too. Unbelievable.”

Ice trickled down Heather’s spine.
“She left.”

“Uh, yeah, did I stutter? I swear you
Hillside females have got to be the dumbest –”

“I beg you not to finish that
sentence, Hardy.” Heather held up a palm.

“What’s your problem?” Elizabeth
asked, then rearranged her torrid blue sweats. “You jealous because you can’t
shoot?”

“She’s just being an idiot,” Hardy
said. “She thinks –”

“Quiet,” Heather said and massaged her
forehead. “I’m trying to think.” Jessica had run off with the arrows. She’d
possibly skipped town. Or hidden in wait to hurt someone else. It had to be
her.

This was the puzzle piece.

“Yeah, hah, good luck with that,”
Coach Hardy replied. Already, sweat had pooled underneath his armpits and
streaked his calves. The guy had a serious issue.

“Hardy,” Heather barked.

The man jumped, then cleared his
throat and tried to act cool. “What?”

“Did Jessica ever tell you anything
personal? Anything at all? About Kyle Henson or the school or Leticia Jackson?”

Coach Hardy’s mouth puckered up. “Huh?
Uh, I don’t think so.”

Lilly bundled down the stairs behind
Heather, then stood on the bottom step and stared at the adults. Her gaze swept
over Elizabeth and traveled away. Heather grasped Lilly’s shoulder to give her
moral support.

“Anything. Think. Please. It’s got to
be Hillside related. Archery related.”

“Uh, she told me that she used to
train with Henson on the smaller field. There were bleachers, and he used to
make her stand way back and shoot from there. She hated it because she missed
most of the time and the other kids could hit the targets.”

“The smaller field. Anything else?”

“No, sheesh, what’s your deal?” Hardy
asked, then flapped his sweaty shirt.

Lilly clamped her fingers on her nose
and squeezed.

“My deal is that there’s a murderer on
the loose, and she’s been using your arrows to kill people. Come on, Lils,
let’s get out of here.” Heather marched her charge forward and out the front
door of the Foster Folks’ house.

They stomped down the front stairs and
the path, then stopped beside Heather’s car?

“Where are we going?” Lilly asked.
“What about the bike ride?”

“I’m sorry, honey, but we’re going to
have to postpone that. I’ve just figured out who killed Kyle Henson. I need to
call Ryan. I need to call –”

“But what am I going to do?” Lilly
asked, and twisted her lips to one side.

Heather stared at the young girl. Her
ruddy cheeks shone in the morning sunlight. Innocent and free.

“You want to spend some time with Eva?
She’d love to see you.”

Lilly’s grin lit up Heather’s life.
“Yeah, that would be great! Can Dave come to?”

“Yeah, he can. Get in the car,
sweetie, let’s go fetch him.” Heather opened the back door for Lilly, waited
for her to get in, then shut it behind her.

She had to hurry. There wasn’t much
time. Jinx was on the loose, and if she didn’t get to her in time, things in
Hillside would get real bad, real fast.

Eva Schneider stood on the sidewalk,
her hands on her hips and an apron fastened around her neck. “I was making a
pie,” she said. “There’s going to be plenty to share.”

Lilly scooted off her seat and jogged
to Eva, Dave padding along beside her. “Hi, Aunt Eva,” she said and threw her
arms around the old lady. “Heather said Dave and I could spend the afternoon.”

“Of course, you can, dear,” Eva
replied, and patted the girl on the top of the head. “And you can have some pie
too.”

“Eva, I messaged Colleen and told her
that Lilly is with you. She said it was fine. Do you need her number?” Heather
asked. Butterflies pummeled the lining of her stomach, demanding attention.
Demanding Heather rush off to find Jinx, right away.

Amy slipped out of the passenger seat
of Heather’s car and leaned her forearms on the top of the car. “I don’t like
this,” she whispered.

Heather shot her a look. “Not in front
of Lilly,” she hissed.

“We’ll be back a little later to pick
you two up, Lils. Be safe. Enjoy the pie.”

“Bye!” Lilly waved, then led Dave up
the garden path. Eva walked next to her and chattered on. Pie this, cherries
that.

They disappeared inside the house, and
the door slammed shut behind them.

“Like I said, I don’t like this,
Heather. It doesn’t feel right.” Amy shivered and rubbed her upper arms. “What
if she, you know, the bow and arrow. She’s got to be good at aiming.”

“Relax, we’re not doing this on our
own. I’ve got to phone Ryan and tell him what’s going on.” Heather scrabbled
her phone from her front pocket, and her fingertips brushed against the rough
fabric. She brought it out, then frowned.

The notification light at the top of
the phone flashed purple.

Heather swiped her finger across the
screen and unlocked it. A message from Jung flashed front and center. She
tapped to open it.

Something weird is going on at my
place. Call me back.

Heather bit her lip. “I’ve got to call
Jung first.”

“What, why?”

“Let’s find out.” Heather dialed his
number, then placed the phone against her ear.

It rang three times, then clicked.
“Boss?” Jung asked.

“Yeah, I got a message from you, Jung.
Is everything all right?”

Jung exhaled into the phone and the
sound distorted. “No,” he said. “Everything is not all right. Something creepy
happened a couple of minutes ago, boss.”

“What is it?” Heather met Amy’s gaze
and shrugged. Amy rapped her knuckles on the top of Heather’s car and rocked
from side-to-side.

“Someone tried to break into my
place,” Jung replied. “I heard this weird noise at the back of the building,
like metal or glass or, I don’t know how to describe it. Went to look and the
trash can was tipped over.”

Heather heaved a sigh of relief.
“You're just jumpy. It was probably a cat or a dog.”

“Rats?” Amy suggested, then
fake-gagged.

“No,” Jung said. “No, boss, I’m
serious. I went down there and checked it out. I found blood shards of an arrow
in the trash can next to the one that’d been thrown over. And now, shoot. Hold
on a sec.”

Jung’s voice disappeared. Scratches
and crackles replaced it. A muffled shout.

“Someone hanging around outside the
window. Just saw them there. A woman. She ran off before I could get a good
look at her,” Jung said.

Heather puffed out her cheeks and
exhaled. “All right. All right, it’s okay.”

“Sounds like a cheer from that Bring
It On movie. Do you remember that?” Amy whispered.

Heather shushed her. “Jung, lock
yourself in and stay away from the windows and doors for heaven’s sake. I
believe that person is armed and dangerous. I’ll call Ryan and have him send
over a car.”

“Thanks, boss, you’re the best.”

And then he hung up. No panicking or
unnecessary questions. Pure acceptance of the facts. Another pragmatic person.

Heather pulled the phone from her ear
and dialed Ryan’s number, next.

“Wait, what’s going on?” Amy asked.

Heather waved her question away again,
and Amy stuck out her tongue, then rested her forehead on her arms instead.

“Shepherd,” Ryan said, in his work
voice grunt.

“Honey, it’s me. I’ve got a problem.”

“Who’s being attacked this time?” Ryan
asked, and chuckled.

It would’ve been a funny joke at any
other time. “Jung,” Heather replied. “HE just called to tell me that someone
left a bloodied arrow in his trash. I’d bet anything it’s carbon.”

“I’m on my way.”

“Ryan, it’s Jessica Laverne. I’m sure
of it. She stole the arrows from her coach. Hardy, and used them to kill Kyle
Henson and attack Leticia.” Maybe the woman thought she could pin it all on
Jung.

“All right. I’m on it.”

“Be careful,” Heather replied. The
other end of the line went dead.

Amy’s mouth hung open. “She’s at
Jung’s place?”

“I can’t be certain. Ryan’s on his way
there now to make sure.”

“So, what are we going to do?” Amy
asked, then narrowed her eyes at Heather. “I can tell from the expression on
your face that ‘eating donuts’ is not the answer.”

“We’re going to Hillside High. To the
small practice field behind the locker room.” Heather circled to her side of
the car, opened the door, then got in.

Amy lowered herself back into her seat
and rubbed her eyes with the heels of her palms. “Do I want to know why?”

“Because if Jessica isn’t at Jung’s
house anymore, that’s where she’s going to go.”

“How do you know?”

Heather started the engine of her car,
then zipped on her seat belt and clicked it into place. “Because Jessica is
stuck in the past. She has been since 2009. That past is about to come back to
punish her for all she’s done.”

“Oh boy. That sounds like a Christmas
vacation,” Amy said and clapped her hands. “I can barely contain myself.”

“You’re going to have to,” Heather
said, then pulled out into the road, her gaze fixed on the macadam.

“Why’s that?”

“Because you’re on Taser duty.”

Heather stood on the edge of the
yellowing field and stared at the solitary target at the other end. Arrows
littered the grass around it. Not a single bulls-eye. Arrows everywhere but in
the target.

Shoot, there weren’t even holes in the
thing.

She tucked her arms behind her back
and clasped her hands together.

“You can come out now, Jinx,” she
said, softly.

Footsteps slapped on the wooden
bleachers behind Heather, then thumped to the grass. A bowstring creaked.
Heather clenched her fists and forced herself to calm down.

“Turn around and look at me,” the
woman said.

Heather turned on the spot and raised
her hands above her head. “Don’t shoot, Jinx.”

“Stop calling me that,” the blond
woman snapped. “I hate that stupid name. I’m not jinxed, and I have never
been.”

“No,” Heather replied. “You’re not
jinxed. But that doesn’t make you a good person.”

Jessica through back her head and
laughed at the sky. She laughed and laughed. Her breath wheezed in her chest
and then she flopped her head back down and met Heather’s gaze.

“I don’t care about being a good
person, Heather Shepherd.” She clicked her tongue, bow still drawn, arrow
knocked. She hadn’t taken aim yet, at least. How strong was this woman?

Surely, it took a lot of strength to
keep that arm extended?

“Everyone wants to be good. Everyone.
That’s why we’re here. To help each other, to be better, and to learn.” Heather
flashed a smile. “You can still do that, Jessica.”

“Oh, you are so barking up the wrong
tree.”

This was the riskiest move Heather had
pulled in recent memory. She hadn’t purposefully put herself in harm’s way
before but, to be fair, Jessica could’ve been at Jung’s house, rather than at
the field.

“You have no interest in being a good
person? In being respected and loved by everyone?” 

Jessica rolled her eyes. “Who cares
about that stuff? Respect, love? That’s for losers. And I want to win.”

“I respectfully disagree,” Heather
replied. “You can’t truly win unless you’ve felt real love.”

“This is not a debate. I am not on
trial,” Jessica snapped. “If you wanna win, you have to know how to play the
game, and this is the only way to do that.” She let the bow sag, a little. “I
won’t let you run to your little cop boyfriend and tell him the truth.”

“He’s my husband, not my boyfriend.”

“Whatever,” Jessica spat. She raised
the bow again. “It’s over, Heather.”

“I don’t understand,” Heather said.
“How do you figure you’re going to get away with this?”

Jinx blinked at her, then sniffed.
“What do you mean? I’m going to kill you, and then no one will know.”

“You left the arrow in Jung’s trash,
right?” Heather asked.

Jinx’s cheeks paled, but she still
didn’t lower that bow. “What, how do you know that?”

“He’s one of my closest friends. He
called me the minute something happened and told me all about.”

“So? Who cares?” Jinx snorted. She
readjusted her grip and stretched her neck from side-to-side. “You’re going to
die, and everyone will think it’s Jung. He’ll take the fall for it. Serves him
right for competing against the best.”

“You can’t call yourself the best if
you have to bribe judges to win,” Heather replied.

Jessica growled in her throat. “You
shut up!”

“My husband is over at Jung’s place,
right now. That’s right. My husband, the police officer, is with him. Your
story won’t check out.” Heather shook her head. “I’m disappointed, Jinx. I
thought that you made a mistake. Or that you had a grand plan when you bribed
Leticia.”

Jessica’s arms wobbled and the bow
swerved left and then right.

Heather froze, her arms still above
her head and her heart pounded against the inside of her ribcage. “Turns out,”
Heather said, breathing deep to keep her voice even, “You don’t have a master
plan. You didn’t realize that Kyle was the other judge until the last minute
did you?”

She didn’t reply, just stared at
Heather.

“I guess you walked into the locker
room and found him there. What happened then?” Heather asked. “Did all the old
emotions come rushing back? Did you remember the day he fired you from the
team? Or was it losing the Olympics that got to you?”

“Don’t,” Jessica whispered, tears
gathering at the corners of her eyes.

“The arrows were right there, weren’t
they? Coach Hardy’s arrows. Did he leave them behind after your practice with
him? He looks like the careless type.”

Jinx shook her head and stumbled back
a step. “Stop.”

“So, you saw him there sitting or
standing and you decided that he had to pay. Am I right? Pay for what he did to
you. But you didn’t realize what you did to him.” Heather dropped her arms
slowly, confidence building in her chest.

Amy stood on the bleachers, just
behind Jinx, Taser pointed at the murderer’s back.

“Did to him? He ruined my career!”
Jessica yelled.

“No,” Heather replied. “You ruined his
career. You and his wife. But that’s all over now because you took it into your
own hands. And now, you’ve ruined your entire life as a consequence. Take a
moment and let that sink in.” Heather nodded once and met Amy’s gaze. “Jinx.”

Jessica let out a shriek. She let
loose the arrow. Heather dived into the grass and covered her head. Electricity
crackled and sparked. Something heavy hit the ground.

“Heather?” Amy asked. “Oh my gosh,
Heather, are you okay?”

Heather looked up from her spot on the
grass and stared at Jessica Laverne. The woman lay supine, chest rising and
falling slowly, eyes shut.

“Is she okay?” Heather asked.

Amy bent, then pressed her fingers to
Jessica’s throat. “Yeah, but I think she knocked her head when she fell. I
already called Ryan. He’s on his way.”

“Good,” Heather said, then shuffled
onto her knees in the grass. “Mind helping me up?”