Never Trust a Skinny Cupcake Baker (Death by Cupcake Book 1) (8 page)

I
can’t solve my problems with cupcakes, but it sure makes me feel better.

I try to stretch and roll over only to find I’m stuck. W
hat
in the world?
I’m lying on my side with a heavy band across my stomach
trapping me in place. I open my eyes to survey the situation. Instead of
snuggled under my comforter in bed, I’m lying on the sofa. I look down and see
I’m still wearing my clothes from yesterday. I’m trying to put the pieces of
the puzzle together when I feel someone kiss my hair. “Good morning,
sweetheart,” Ben mumbles in a sleepy voice which, if I were being honest with
myself, is sexy as all get out.

What’s going on here? I remember Ben following me home from
the University. He came up to my apartment, and we ended up watching chick lit
movies while gorging on sushi. I must have fallen asleep on the sofa at some
point. I turn to Ben who is scrunched between me and the back of the sofa. “Why
didn’t you wake me?” Oh wait, that’s not the imperative question. “And why are
you still here?”

He gives me that dazzling smile with the one dimple; not
looking one bit chastised. “No way I was going to give up the chance to spend
the night with you in my arms.” He leans down and gives me a hard closed-mouth
kiss while he pets my hair. I don’t even want to think about the tangled mess
my hair must be now. 

Wait! Why can I see Ben’s face? It should be dark out. I
never wake up after the sun has made an appearance. Even though we open an hour
later on Saturdays, I still should have been downstairs by five. “Oh no,” I try
to pull myself off the sofa, which is a pretty monumental task as my legs are
entwined with Ben’s, and his arm is holding me across the waist like a steel
band. “I’m beyond late. I need to get to work.”

Ben’s not cooperating at all. His arm tightens around me,
and he pulls me even tighter against his chest. “I called Anna last night. She
said she’s got everything covered.”

What?
“When did you do that?”

Ben chuckles. “After you fell asleep for the third time.”

I blink but can’t think of a response to that. It’s actually
super sweet. I turn to check the time on my DVD player and see it’s approaching
seven. “I really need to get up and help Anna open the store now,” I insist as
I wrestle Ben’s arm from around me.

Ben allows me to get up and pull away but when I’m nearly in
the hallway, he speaks. “I plan to spend as many nights as possible with you
wrapped in my arms. And some day…” He turns and hits me with those chocolate
eyes. “It’s going to be every night.”

I have no words. I stare at him until he motions for me to
get my act together. Yeah, like that’s possible after Detective Hottie declares
he wants to spend his nights with you.

♥♥♥

At 1:45 p.m. I grab my purse and yell at Anna I’ll be back
in an hour or so. I’m rushing to sneak out the back door when I’m tackled by
the pink pixie. “Where do you think you’re going?”

“Um...” I shrug and try to buy time by reaching down to grab
my purse from the floor where it fell when Anna tried to take me down. “Just an
appointment.”

Anna plants her hands on her hips and the toe of her right
foot starts tapping. “And would this just happen to be a gynecological
appointment?”

Shoot!
I didn’t tell her about my appointment with
Dr. Abrahams today, but she’s not obtuse. She knows I called his office and
couldn’t get through to him. I sigh. There’s nothing for it. “Yes, I’m going to
see Dr. Abrahams, but you can hardly join me on a trip to the gyno.”

“I miss all the good stuff,” she pouts.

I raise my eyebrow at her and stare. “Seriously? Going to
the gyno is the good stuff? Because I’d rather get a dozen root canals than go
to the gyno.”

Anna rolls her eyes at me. “Geez, Callie, it’s not that bad.
Sometimes you’re such a prude!”

“I’d love to stand here and discuss the history and
development of prudishness of the American people versus the Europeans more
laissez faire attitudes towards sex, but I don’t want to be late to my
appointment.”

Anna shoos me away. “Fine! Get out of here before you bore
me to death, but I expect a full report tonight. Drinks at Callahan’s!”

I pedal like a maniac to the University Medical Center. I
abhor being late. It’s rumored that I actually lock the doors to the lecture
hall during my classes to deter tardiness. I’ll never tell, but in case you’re
wondering, the doors totally lock. I arrive at Dr. Abrahams’ office a few
minutes before two. I check in, and the receptionist hands me a stack of forms
to fill out.

I sit with the forms and that’s when I realize that I
haven’t thought things out very well because right there on the first form is a
questionnaire asking why I’m visiting today.
Blast!
I can feel my cheeks
heating up and can’t help but be grateful that Anna is nowhere in the vicinity
to poke fun at my Puritanism.

“Ms. Muller,” a nurse in pink scrubs yells from the front of
a hallway.
Saved by the bell!

I stand and follow the nurse to an examination room. “Go
ahead and get undressed and put the gown on.” Yeah, like that will be
happening. “The doctor will be with you in a moment.”

Left with no other choice, I climb onto the examination
table – fully dressed. I try to think of a plan of attack while I’m waiting but
apparently Dr. Abrahams runs a tight ship because I wait no more than five
minutes before he appears. I study him as he washes his hands in the sink. He’s
middle-aged. I’d guess somewhere around fifty with a few streaks of gray
appearing in his short, black, curly hair. He’s a bit chubby around the middle
but otherwise seems in decent shape. I can’t guess how tall he is since I’m
sitting on an elevated table. He turns to me and smiles.

“So, miss, what can I do for you today?”

I take a deep breath and jump in with both feet. “Actually,
it’s doctor. Doctor Muller.”

I carefully watch for a reaction to my name but don’t notice
any change in his demeanor. I guess he hasn’t been following the news of
Dolly’s murder. “Okay, what can I do for you Doctor?”

I jump right in. “Do you know Dolly aka Claire Horne?”

He flinches ever so slightly and then turns to leave. “We’re
done here. Tell my wife I’ll talk to her about this latest stunt tonight.”

“Wait.” I stumble as I climb down the examination table.
“Your wife didn’t send me.” I grab his arm as he reaches for the doorknob.
“Please, hear me out. I’ve been accused of Dolly’s murder, but I didn’t have
anything to do with it.”

He stares at my hands on his arm, and I immediately release
him. He turns to me and stares at my face for a while. Finally, he nods.
“You’ve got two minutes.”

“Well, it’s just that I heard that you and Dolly were… um…
lovers.” I clear my throat. “I was wondering if you have any idea who would
want her dead.”

“Lovers?” He snorts. “Is that what you young kids are
calling it today?” I look at him in confusion, and he sighs. “Yes, I’ve had
sexual relations with Dolly, but we were hardly lovers.” Isn’t that what having
sex with someone means? That you’re lovers? He shakes his head at my obvious
confusion. “You really need me to spell it out for you, don’t you? I paid Dolly
for sex.”

I feel my eyes widen and try to control my surprise. “So,
did she … ah … do that kind of thing more often?”

“Have sex for money, you mean?” The good doctor is now
smirking at me. He shrugs. “I’m not an eyewitness or anything, but I’m pretty
sure I wasn’t the first man to pay her to be with me. The woman got around, if
you know what I mean.” He turns back to the door. “I think you’ve wasted enough
of my time,
Doctor
.” He opens the door and breezes out as if he hadn’t
just told me he paid a woman to have sex with him. Okay, I’m definitely a
prude.

I
wish I could lose weight as easy as I lose my mind.

“What’s going on?” Ben roars.

“What are you doing here?” I ask without raising my head
from the table where it landed minutes ago after my crying jag petered out.

“Pinkie called me.”

I lift my head ever so slightly to glare at Anna, but the
effect is probably not what I intend as my eyes are puffy from crying and most
likely bloodshot from a few too many beers last night. Ben pulls my chair out
from the table and kneels in front of me. “What’s going on, sweetheart? Why are
you crying?” He gently cradles my face with his hands, and I suddenly have to
blink quickly to stop the tears from falling again. I fail – epically.

Tears stream down my face, and I take deep gulps of air to
stop myself from hyperventilating. I let out all my frustrations. “It’s been a
week and we’ve got nothing. Tweedledee and Tweedledum are still convinced – for
reasons I cannot fathom – that I am guilty of murdering a stupid,
inconsequential pole dancing teacher slash stripper slash prostitute. Are they
even trying to find some of her johns to see if any of them had a motive for
her murder? No! Because it’s not like a majority of hookers aren’t killed by their
clients or anything?”

Ben gently pulls me into his arms before lifting me up and
sitting back in my chair. He cradles me in his lap and rocks me. He kisses my
hair and tries to soothe me. Suddenly, he’s still and he lifts my head so I’m
forced to look at him. “What are you talking about hookers for?”

“Uh oh,” I hear Anna mutter from the kitchen area. At Anna’s
utterance, Ben’s eyes scrunch up, and he stares at me.

I sigh in defeat and make my confession. “We kind of went to
Dolly’s other job and found out who her boyfriend was but when I went to see
him yesterday, it turned out it he wasn’t her boyfriend but a client.”

“You went to Dolly’s other job? At the strip club?” I’m not
sure if Ben is surprised or mad. His face is completely blank.

Anna giggles. “Not only did we go to the strip club, but Callie
got a job as a stripper.” She raises her hand to give me a high five, but I
glare at her. I grab my glasses from the table and put them on. I need to
concentrate for this conversation.

Ben grabs my chin and turns me to face him. “You got a job
as a stripper?”

I don’t dare answer but there’s no need, Anna is perfectly
happy to fill him in. “Yeah, she auditioned and everything. She was totally
awesome.” She fans herself. “Sexy!”

I can see from the way Ben’s jaw has frozen and the ticking
of a muscle above his eye that he’s about to explode, but I beat him to the
punch. “How did you know Dolly was working at the strip club? Why didn’t you
tell us?”

If a six feet tall, 200 plus pound man can look sheepish, that’s
how Ben looks now. He rubs one hand over his face before finally daring to look
at me. “I’ve been trying to find out some information about the investigation
through back channels since no one can officially share with me.”

“But why didn’t you tell us?” This hurts. I don’t know if
you can call his actions a lie, but I still feel betrayed.

“Because I didn’t want you to run off half-cocked to a strip
club, but I guess that ship has sailed.” He takes a deep breath and closes his
eyes for a few moments before continuing. “Okay, what have you found out so
far?”

I shake my head. “No way. I’m not jeopardizing your job.” I
try to give him the stink eye, but the man is just too beautiful to glare at.
“And it’s not like you’ve been sharing with us.”

Ben shakes his head at me, but his smile is back.
“Sweetheart, I only learned about the strip club thing yesterday.”

I try to assess if he’s telling the truth, but I just don’t
know him well enough yet to make that judgment. Yet? Did I really think that? I
shake my head and get back to the matter at hand. “Did you find anything else
out?” I may not want him to put his job on the line but if he already has, I’m
not going to turn down that information.

“Your turn first,” Ben demands, and I’m back to glaring at the
man. Anna doesn’t have such issues.

“Well, as you know, we went to the gym and got Dolly’s
address. We went to Dolly’s place, but it was locked up tight, and apparently
she’s not a good neighbor because her cross-dressing neighbor knew nearly
nothing about her and didn’t have a key to her place. He did know she worked at
Club Bristol. That’s how we ended up going to the strip club.”

Ben looks at me and raises an eyebrow in question. “And just
how did you get a job there?”

My face heats up, but I answer him truthfully. “They were
auditioning Dolly’s replacement and thought I was there for an audition.
Someone,” I take a moment to glare at Anna, “insisted I go through with the
audition.” I shrug. “Somehow, I got the job.”

Ben shakes his head and offers me that dazzling smile with
the one dimple. “Somehow? Honey, you are too sexy for your own good. You’ve got
the exact type of body a place like that is looking for.” He leans in and
whispers to me. “And just so you know, I expect to be the only one you show
that act to in the future.” I feel a full body flush overtake me, and I try not
to wiggle on top of his lap. I duck my head into Ben’s shoulder to hide my
glowing face.

“Man, that was hot.” Anna fans herself and winks at me.

I force my thoughts back to the current situation. “So, what
have you learned?” I ask as I emerge from the protection of Ben’s shoulder.

Ben shakes his head. “Nuh-uh. You’re not done. How do you
know Dolly’s a prostitute? I’m pretty sure Detectives Duchamps and Smits don’t
know that.”

“Well, the good detectives are pretty ignorant of a lot of
things.” I snort and then force my mind back to the investigation. “I asked the
manager if he knew if Dolly had a boyfriend or something. He mentioned a
doctor, and after some research we found a Dr. Abrahams working at the
University Medical Center. I called and made an appointment for yesterday.”

I stop because Ben is growling. “You went to see a potential
murderer without telling me!” Uh oh, he’s beyond angry.

I try to play it off. “It was no big deal. I was at a
medical office. I’m sure he wouldn’t do anything there.”

Ben grabs my chin and forces me to look at him. “Never
again! You hear me? You don’t meet with possible killers alone and without
telling me.”

I nod because it’s only a lie if I say it out loud, right?
I’m going to do everything I can find to Dolly’s murderer and clear my name.
And I’ve only got a week to do that. “Anyway,” I say when Ben starts to calm a
bit. “I met with the good doctor and discovered that he wasn’t Dolly’s boyfriend
but a client. Which somewhat shocked me as I didn’t really expect a doctor to
just admit that kind of thing.” I know men have needs. I’m not stupid after
all, but I thought that’s what dodgy bars and one-night stands were for.

“I’ll let the detectives know tomorrow.”

“And now it’s your turn for show and tell.”

Ben snorts. “I haven’t learned much, but I do know that the
cupcake that killed Dolly was placed on top of her locker in the changing room
at the fitness studio sometime after 3 and before 5:30 p.m. on the day she
died.”

Anna leans forward; eyes twinkling in excitement. “How do
you know that?”

“The locker rooms are cleaned several times a day. According
to the employee on duty that day, she did a quick pick-up of the locker room at
three and there wasn’t a cupcake box on the locker then. Several members of
your pole dancing class claim they saw Dolly find the cupcake box after your
class, which gets out at five thirty.”

Something doesn’t add up to me. “How do they know it was the
cupcake that killed her?” I still can’t stand the idea of one of our cupcakes
being used as a murder weapon.

“She didn’t eat all of it. The lab tested the remaining
portion for poison.”

“What kind of poison was it?” My mind is already twirling
with the possibility of the poison being something rare or registered that I
could have never gotten my hands on. Yet another piece of the puzzle proving I
didn’t murder Dolly.

Ben shrugs. “I don’t know, but you can ask your attorney to
request a copy of the autopsy and any related tox screens.” I nod. I’ll be
doing that first thing Monday morning.

“So what do we do now?” Anna asks.

That’s a no-brainer. “We need to know everyone who was in
the gym between 3 and 5:30 p.m. on the day Dolly was killed.” Ben stiffens
under me, but I ignore him.

“How are we going to do that?” Anna asks. I shrug. I have no
idea, but we are definitely going to find out every person in the gym at that
time because every single one of those persons could be the murderer. Our list
of suspects just got blown wide open.