Black Bottom Murder: A Frosted Love Cozy Mystery Book 6 (Frosted Love Mysteries) (2 page)

Putting
a small diamond stud earring in, Missy’s heart leaped when she heard the
doorbell announcing Chas’s arrival. Toffee whimpered at the door until she
opened it, then launched herself joyfully into the handsome detectives arms.
Laughing at the dog’s enthusiastic greeting, he ruffled the soft tufts of fur
behind her ears thoroughly before turning his attention to Missy.

“You
look beautiful,” he observed, kissing her cheek. She had dressed in a swirly
black floral skirt, topped by a fitted black cami and white cardigan.

“Thanks,
you’re not so bad yourself,” she sounded like she was teasing, but her
heartbeat would indicate otherwise. She was still a bit miffed that he had not
responded as she’d hoped to Echo’s situation, but it was so good to see him
that she put those feelings aside and kissed him softly.

“Ready
to go?” the handsome detective asked, after delighting in her kiss.

“Yes,
I’m starving,” Missy admitted, her stomach growling. He offered his arm and
escorted her to his car, opening the door for her.

They
went to a local steakhouse that had booths suitable for private conversation
and started the evening by selecting a Merlot that would complement their
steaks. After they had ordered and were enjoying their salads with the wine,
Missy broached the subject of Sid Hixon’s murder. She explained again what she
knew of Echo’s pacifistic nature, and described Sid’s less-than-pleasant
personality in enough detail to have the detective wondering about suspects
other than her friend.

“So,
how rough was this Sid character?” Chas asked.

“He
had a reputation of a man with no friends and many potential enemies,” Missy
answered truthfully. She hated speaking ill of the dead, but the bad taste that
this man left in the mouths of most of the population could be an important
factor in finding his killer.

“I’ll
see what I can find out, but I’ll have to tread lightly. Dellville PD is
handling this case, so they’re not going to appreciate a detective from
LaChance poking into their affairs,” he warned.

“Thank
you, Chas, you’re the best,” Missy smiled at him, relieved.

“I
was beginning to wonder if you still thought that way after our ‘chilly’
conversation this morning,” he looked at her pointedly, taking a slow sip of
wine.

“I’m
sorry about that,” she said, stroking his bicep and enjoying the feel of thick
muscle flexing beneath her touch as he lowered his glass. “I’m just trying to
grow business at both stores and grooming Ben and Cheryl to take on more
responsibility, and sometimes it makes me a little crazy,” she admitted. “I
know we haven’t had much time together lately, and that bothers me.”

“Me
too,” he agreed, gazing into her eyes.

Shy,
as usual, Missy looked back for as long as she could, then dropped her glance
to fiddle with her silverware. Chas wasn’t going to let her get away with
avoidance this time, however, and putting his fingers under her chin, gently
tipped her head up so that she’d look at him.

“This
is new territory for me too,” he said softly. “Missing someone, caring about
them and being scared of it…but we have to communicate if we want this thing to
work out, okay?”

She
nodded and bit her lower lip. “Thanks for putting up with me,” she
half-whispered.

“I
wouldn’t have it any other way,” he replied easily, lowering his lips to hers.
The subtle sound of a clearing throat ended their kiss all too soon as the
server stood patiently waiting to put their dinners in front of them. Missy
blushed, and Chas busied himself with placing his napkin in his lap as they
both avoided eye contact with the amused waiter. The rest of dinner was spent
in catching up and just having everyday pleasant conversation. They both felt
much better by the time Chas dropped Missy off, kissing her soundly on the
front porch.

“See
you tomorrow?” she asked, a bit breathless.

“I
certainly hope so,” he replied, kissing her one last time before heading down
the steps toward his car. Missy waved as he drove away, disappearing inside
when he turned the corner. Toffee was delighted to see her favorite person, and
gave a more than enthusiastic greeting, her majestic plume of a tail swishing
back and forth. Missy kicked off her shoes and scratched between Toffee’s ears
affectionately until her phone rang, disturbing the moment. Thinking that it
was probably Chas, letting her know that he’d arrived home safely, she was
surprised to hear Echo’s voice on the line.

“Missy,
I’m frightened. I don’t know what to do,” she wailed.

“Echo,
what’s wrong?” she asked, alarmed.

“Safflower
stormed out of here a few hours ago, and she hasn’t come back. It’s dark and
she’s in a strange place and I’m just really worried about her,” she explained,
her voice thick with tears.

“
Just
what poor Echo needs right now,
” Missy thought, angry at Safflower’s
ongoing petulance. “Why was she upset?” she asked, trying hard to mask her
frustration.

“Well,
I’m embarrassed to say…but when you left, she made a remark about you being
provincial or something, and when I defended you, she got angry and left,” Echo
admitted.

Missy
sighed inwardly. She wasn’t upset by Safflower’s assessment, it took more than
a snide remark to get her goat, but she hated the fact that the selfish twit
was making Echo’s life even more difficult than it needed to be right now.
“Well, I wouldn’t be too worried,” she reassured her friend. “She probably just
needed some time to cool off. Dellville is a quiet, safe little town, I’m sure
she’ll be fine and will come back when she’s darn good and ready.”

“I
used to think Dellville was safe, but someone did get murdered here recently,”
Echo reminded her, worried.

“Yes,
but it’s well-known that the victim was disliked by pretty much everyone.
Safflower doesn’t even know anyone,” Missy pointed out.

“True.
Okay…I guess I’ll just wait up for her, but if she isn’t here by morning, I’m
calling the police.”

“Good
plan. Let me know when she’s safe,” her friend instructed.

“I
will, thanks Missy.”

They
hung up, and Missy headed for bed, Toffee at her heels. She read for a while,
hoping to hear from Echo, but eventually closed her book and snapped off the
bedside lamp, pulling the covers up to her neck. She tossed and turned for most
of the night, falling in and out of sleep, until Echo at last texted her around
3:30, saying that Safflower had gone out for a snack and was safe. Because of
the late hour and lack of sleep, it never occurred to Missy to reflect upon how
strange it was that a young girl had gone out in the middle of the night to
“get a snack,” returning in the wee hours of the morning. She was just glad
that Safflower was safe and Echo was relieved. Feeling better herself, she went
back to sleep and slept dreamlessly until just after dawn.

Missy
was baffled at the curt text that she received from Chas shortly after waking.

“
Get
dressed, I’ll pick you up in ten minutes,
” was the cryptic message that she
received from the detective.

She
hurriedly threw on a pair of yoga pants and a loose, warm sweatshirt, pulling
her golden curls into a hasty ponytail. She had just come back in from taking
Toffee out when Chas knocked loudly at the front door. Her heart sunk within
her when she saw the look on his face – she knew that something had happened.

“Chas,
what’s going on?” she demanded, worried.

“I’ll
tell you in the car,” he answered grimly. “Let’s go.”

Missy
was aghast when she heard the reason that he had picked her up, and remained
silent for the duration of the trip, holding her fragile emotions together as
best she could. She leaped from the car when the detective pulled up in front
of her Dellville store, her heart breaking. Someone had picked the lock on the
front door, breaking in and wreaking havoc in the little shop. The police were
on the scene, investigating, so Missy was unable to get inside, but, surveying
the damage from her vantage point on the sidewalk, she saw that batch after
batch of cupcakes, including the new Lemon Chiffon Cupcakes of the Day, that
were prepared last night had been smashed and rubbed all over the walls of the
shop’s pink and lime green interior. The glass display cases had been smashed,
the cash register ripped from the counter and thrown on the floor. Whoever had
caused the destruction had been very thorough – much of the furniture had been
broken, and the custom barn-wood floor had deep gauges in it.

Tears
rolled down Missy’s cheeks and her knees grew weak as she absorbed the enormity
of what had happened. Chas stood behind her, an safe port in the sea of pain
that threatened to drown her. He saw her knees start to buckle and led her back
to the car so that she had something to lean against. An officer from Dellville
asked her a few questions and assured her that they’d be working diligently to
apprehend whoever had done the damage, but she was so numb that his words
barely registered. Chas thanked the officer and helped Missy back into his car.
He brought her home, but didn’t drop her off at the door, coming in to make
sure that she was going to be okay.

Missy
sank down into the couch, speechless, absently stroking Toffee’s ears. The
perceptive animal laid her head down on Missy’s lap, gazing up at her with
adoring brown eyes, willing her mistress to feel better. Chas went straight to
the kitchen to start a pot of coffee, and came back out a short time later with
two steaming mugs of strong brew.

“I’ve
called Ben and Chris to let them know that they won’t need to come in today, and
told Ben to work with Cheryl and Grayson at the LaChance shop because you won’t
be in,” he informed her, placing the cup in her hands.

“Thank
you,” she murmured, taking a sip and still in shock. “Why, Chas? Why would
someone do something like that?” she wondered, shaking her head slowly from
side to side. “I try to be nothing but nice to everyone, why would someone try
to hurt me like this?” she looked up at him, her kitten-grey eyes flooding with
tears.

“It
probably wasn’t personal, Missy. Most likely it was just plain vandalism –
someone saw an opportunity to be destructive and took advantage of it. It
probably had nothing at all to do with you personally,” he answered quietly,
taking her hand. Toffee slipped up beside her on the sofa, nosing at her elbow.

“Why
would someone do something like that, though?” she persisted, wiping her tears
with the back of her hand.

“Who
knows? Often times, vandalism is an expression of rage or frustration. Maybe
someone lost their job, or got served with divorce papers, or was given a
traffic ticket. Sometimes it doesn’t seem to take much at all to set someone
off,” he shrugged, feeling helpless.

Missy
nodded, staring into space.

“Are
you going to be okay?” Chas asked, stroking the back of her hand with his
thumb.

“Yeah,”
she replied weakly. “I’m going to take my coffee upstairs and take a bath.” The
warm jets of water provided a refuge in which she could think, reflect and
plan. Chas knew that the tub was her retreat when things got tough and stood to
go, letting her know that he’d be back to take her to lunch in a few hours. She
nodded, accepted a kiss and trudged up the stairs, coffee cup in hand.

When
Chas picked Missy up for lunch, the Dellville police were still gathering
evidence and investigating the vandalism, so they stayed in LaChance, hoping to
give her a break from the glaring reality of her situation. She felt better
after her bath, the shock and sadness evolving into the fierce determination
that Chas knew and loved. After lunch, Missy started itemizing her losses, and
came up with a plan to move forward. She was thankful that this terrible thing
had happened well in advance of the busy holiday season. They’d easily be able
to recover from this and get back on track before it was time to fill orders
for family gatherings, school parties, and company functions. The police
finally finished their work around 2:00, and Missy began the clean-up process
with her assistant Chris’s help. Cheryl, Ben and Grayson joined in the effort
after the LaChance store closed for the day. With so many helping hands, the
mess was taken care of in record time, but Missy wouldn’t be able to reopen the
shop until her new glass cases, which were scheduled for delivery two days
hence, came in.

The
gang lounged tiredly in the seating area and agreed to meet up at the same time
the following day to paint the used furniture that Missy would purchase tomorrow
morning. Before they left, she looked gratefully at each one in turn.

“I
want to thank y’all for being there for me each and every time I need you,” she
began tearfully. “You’re more than a staff, you’re the only family I’ve got,
and I even begin to tell you how much you mean to me. I know that I can always
count on you, and that’s something that few folks in this world can say about
anyone. From the bottom of my heart, thank you. Y’all are the best,” she said,
tears of love rolling down her cheeks. Cheryl, who had been quietly crying as
Missy spoke, jumped up to envelope her boss in a big hug, and the guys followed
suit, wrapping her in love.