Evil Eclairs (25 page)

*   *   *

I was ready a full thirty seconds before Jake was due to arrive, so I walked out on the porch to greet him when he drove up. When my cell phone rang two minutes later, I groaned a little when I saw who was calling. I wasn’t in the mood to talk to the man on the other end of the line, but I couldn’t afford to let it go to voice mail, either.

“It’s Ray Blake. Am I interrupting something?”

“Not at the moment,” I said. “What’s going on?”

“I just confirmed Nancy Patton’s alibi, and Frank Wheeler’s, too.”

“That was quick work,” I said.

“It’s a good skill for a newspaperman to have.”

“How did you do it?”

“I found Frank in a bar in Hudson Creek, and as long as I kept buying drinks, he was willing to keep talking. The man’s bitter. He thought he was in love with Nancy, and then he found out she was married. He told me he proposed, but when he found out about Lester, he didn’t want to marry a woman who was that good at keeping secrets.”

“He confirmed the timing of the proposal?”

“In great detail. He even showed me the empty ring box. He said it was his good-luck talisman now, and he wants it as a reminder of how close he came to marrying Nancy.”

“He sounds like a real prize,” I said.

“He just got caught up in the moment,” Ray said. “Anyway, I promised I’d let you know what I found out.”

“Thanks, Ray,” I said as I hung up. I’d marked them off my list in my mind with a pencil, but I changed that to ink now. I couldn’t wait to tell Jake. Only where could he be?

I was about to give up on him when he drove up.

As he got out of his car, he handed me a bouquet of daisies and said, “Suzanne, I’m sorry I’m late.”

I took the flowers from him. “You’re forgiven. It’s nice that you remembered daisies were my favorite.”

“Are they?” he asked with a grin. “I just saw these at the side of the road and dug them up.” His joke was obvious, since they were clean, pristine, and wrapped in green florist paper.

“Then you get points for being resourceful. Where are we going?”

“I thought we’d eat here,” he said.

“Sorry, you just lost all the points you got for bringing me flowers. You promised me a meal out.”

“Don’t be so quick to take my points away,” he said as he reached toward the backseat of his car. There was a blanket there, along with a picnic basket. “I thought we could eat in the park together. Is that okay?”

“It sounds great. I know just the spot.”

We walked over to my thinking tree, and I took the blanket from Jake and spread it out on the grass. Dusk was fast approaching, and there was the slightest chill in the air, something that I loved this time of year.

“What did you get?” I asked as I reached for the basket.

“Hang on a second. I’ll serve you,” he said.

I took a seat, and Jake opened the basket. He looked inside, then did a double take. “That’s not right,” he said.

“What is it?”

Jake started pulling things out of the basket. Once he had emptied it out, there were four containers of baked beans and a jug of lemonade. And that was all. The drink had a Shrewsberry label on it, which explained everything. Shrews, as we liked to call the restaurant in Union Square, had never gotten an order right in their life. We’d long ago stopped going there, but evidently Jake wasn’t aware of their tendency to get things wrong.

“Wow, you sure know all of my favorites,” I said with a grin.

“This is supposed to be fried chicken, potato salad, and sweet tea.”

“Did you order the beans?”

Jake nodded. “Yes, but not this much.”

“Hold on. I’ll be right back.”

I walked over to the house and found that Momma had just taken the foil off her chicken. “Any chance I could hijack that?” I asked.

“What happened to Jake?”

“He brought over a picnic basket full of baked beans.”

“They weren’t even in a container?” My mother looked suitably horrified.

“Oh, yes, but that’s all the restaurant packed for him.”

“He must have gotten them from Shrewsberry’s.”

I laughed. “You should have seen his face. Care to join us? There’s plenty of baked beans, and it’s only fair, since you’re contributing the chicken.”

“No, you two have fun. Don’t let it spoil the moment for you.”

I grinned at her. “Are you kidding? Just think what a great story this will make later.”

I grabbed a sweater, and then returned with the chicken to find that Jake had one of the baked beans containers open and was eating them with a spoon. “You know what? These are pretty good.”

“I’m glad you like them. You certainly got enough of them.” I presented the chicken to him, and we had a good laugh about it all. That was one of the things I cherished about Jake. We could make the best of just about any situation, while life with Max had always been a little work.

After we ate and cleaned up our trash, Jake said, “You were pretty specific about where we should put the blanket. Why this spot in particular?”

“Look up,” I said, and pointed to the sky.

Jake whistled softly under his breath. “The stars are beautiful.”

“And there’s not a light in view to break up the sight,” I said. We lay back on the blanket looking up at the sky and holding hands. At some point I must have fallen asleep, because I felt Jake gently rocking my shoulder.

“Hey,” he said. “I know I’m not Mr. Excitement, but I’ve never had a woman fall asleep on a date with me before.”

“You should take that as a compliment. Think how comfortable I must be with you to nod off like that.” I glanced at my watch and saw that, at least for me, it was late. I stood, shook the blanket, and then gathered it together. Jake walked me back to the house, kissed me good night, and then left.

When I walked in, Momma was reading Carolyn Hart’s latest. She loved the author for more reasons than her wonderful books. Even though we weren’t related, we both still felt a kinship to her, a link through our last names. It was my dream to meet her one day, but I doubted life would ever bring her to April Springs.

“Have fun?” she asked as she put her finger on the page.

“It was glorious.”

“Baked beans and all?” Momma asked with a definite twinkle in her eye.

“Yes, even then.”

I fell asleep quickly, with Jake’s last kiss still lingering on my lips.

CHAPTER 19

“You’re not going now, are you?” Emma asked me as I collected the last of the extra glazed donuts from the tray and moved them into a waiting box. It was just around four-thirty the next morning, and the day outside was still cloaked in darkness.

“I won’t be long,” I said. “You can handle the last few batches on your own.” We’d made a double batch of yeast donuts, as I’d promised, and it was time to deliver the first run to the hospital. While I was there, I could check on George, too.

“Just don’t stay past five-thirty, and we’re fine,” Emma said. She really didn’t like it when I left Donut Hearts, especially when we were still preparing our offerings for the day, and I tried not to make a habit of it, but this just couldn’t be helped.

“You can call your mother if you’d like.” It was a safety net she didn’t need, but if it made Emma happy, I wasn’t about to say no.

“She’s sleeping in,” Emma said. “Go on, I’ll be fine.”

I was getting ready to grab the last box when my cell phone rang. “Hello?”

“Suzanne, it’s Penny.”

“Is something wrong? I was just on my way.”

“Good. There’s someone here who wants to talk to you.”

I couldn’t believe it. “George is awake?”

“He is, and cranky as can be. Any chance you have any old-fashioned donuts? He won’t stop demanding one.”

I laughed in relief. “Those are his favorites. I can bring them right now.”

“I’m not sure he can have them yet, but go ahead and bring him one.”

“I’ve got glazed for your crew, too,” I said.

“Suzanne, I keep telling you, it’s not necessary.”

“But you won’t turn them down, will you? I’m not even waiting for an answer. I’ll see you in a few minutes.”

I hung up, put my phone down on the counter, and collected a dozen of our old-fashioned donuts from the tray. Emma could see the broad smile on my face as she asked, “He’s awake?”

“And causing trouble,” I said. “He’s demanding some of my donuts, so he must be getting better.”

“Give him a kiss from me,” she said.

“Will do.”

I put the last box on top, and Emma got the door for me as I walked out to my Jeep. There was a little traffic on the Springs Drive, but it was easy driving all the way to the hospital. One nitwit behind me followed with their brights on, and from the look of it, the headlights hadn’t been aligned in years. It was annoying, but I wasn’t going to let it spoil my mood. George was awake, and better yet, alert.

When I got to the front desk, the guard must have been off somewhere else. I put a few glazed donuts on a napkin and left them for him, though. As far as I was concerned, the whole world could eat free today.

Penny met me at the ICU door. “I checked with his doctor. He can’t have any donuts just yet.”

“Save them for him, then,” I said as I pulled the top box off. “The rest are for your lounge.”

“You should have heard the doctors. They want in on these, too.”

“Split them in half if you want,” I said.

Penny smiled. “We might be able to spare one box. Would you like to see him?”

“May I?”

“It’s not strictly time yet, but there’s not a nurse in this hospital who’s going to say no to you today. Come on back.”

I followed her through the glass doors, and past three curtained areas. At the fourth one, I found George.

He looked terrible. Both eyes were blackened, and there were tubes going in and out of him. A bandage was prominent over one brow, and his right leg was in a cast.

He never looked better to me.

When he saw me, his eyes brightened. “If you think I look bad, you should see the other guy.”

I wanted to hug him, and I got close, but Penny put a hand on my shoulder. “He’s a little sore right now.”

“Come closer,” George said, as though he wanted to whisper something in my ear. I did as he asked, but when I bent over, he didn’t say a word, just inhaled as deeply as he could manage.

I pulled back and asked him, “What was that about?”

“They won’t let me have any donuts, but I can still smell them on you.”

I’d grown so accustomed to the smell that I hardly noticed it anymore. “Sorry, I didn’t have time to shower and change.”

“I love that scent. You should try to bottle it. You’ll have your hands full of interested men.”

“You’re feeling better,” I said, lightly touching his hand as if to be certain he was real and I wasn’t dreaming.

“Believe it or not, I am.” After a pause, he added, “I’m sorry, Suzanne.”

“What do you possibly have to apologize for?”

“I can’t remember anything,” he said, the frustration showing on his face.

I’d forgotten about Penny, but she stepped in behind me as the monitor beat increased. “George, remember our talk? If you get upset, Suzanne has to go.”

“I’m okay,” he said, as his heart monitor soon attested.

“Don’t worry about anything but getting better,” I said.

“You’re in danger,” he answered. “The last thing I remember was talking to Cam Hamilton, there were some bright lights, and then I woke up here.”

“Cam did this to you?”

The monitor started jumping again, and Penny said, “I’m sorry, but that’s it. Suzanne has got to go.”

“I’ll behave myself,” George promised again.

“Sorry, I don’t believe you,” she said with a smile.

“I’ll come back later,” I said as Penny walked me out.

“I told him he couldn’t get too excited,” she said. “Sorry about that.”

“I understand. Did you tell the police about Cam?”

“I called them just before you got here. Chief Martin seemed very interested in having a talk with the mayor.”

“I’ll bet he is,” I said. “Take care of him, Penny.”

“I will,” she replied. “And thanks again for the treats.”

“Just remember to share,” I said.

I started to walk outside, preoccupied with calling Jake, and I stepped off the curb wrong, twisting my left ankle and sending a shooting pain all the way up my leg. Great. Now I was having trouble just walking without injuring myself. I probably should have hobbled back inside and let Penny wrap it for me, but in truth I was too embarrassed to confess to my mishap. Instead, I made it to my Jeep and dialed Jake’s number. My call went straight to his voice mail, so either he was still asleep, or he was on the case with Chief Martin. I couldn’t do anything about either scenario, so I decided to go back to Donut Hearts where I could at least be productive while the case unfolded without me.

I was driving down a lonely stretch of road when the same high-beamed headlights I’d seen on my way to the hospital came up behind me again. What had George said about bright lights? Could that be Cam behind me? Had he hit George? It should be easy enough to check the mayor’s car for possible evidence of an accident.

I had seen it earlier, though, and it had been fine.

Then I remembered picking up Cara Lassiter as she walked along the road. She’d claimed that her car had died, but what if it had sustained some damage from hitting George instead? Cara had been the closest person to Lester, but I’d discounted her as a suspect. Why? Because she’d been quick to give me other, more plausible reasons to suspect everyone but her. I had to give her credit for that; it had been very convincing. I couldn’t think of a solid motive for her, other than her hatred of the victim, but I was sure Jake or the chief could turn that up.

A car’s headlights coming the other way lit Cara’s face up for a split second before it passed us. I was right, for all the good it would do me. I dialed my boyfriend’s number, and it again went straight to voice mail. “It’s Suzanne. Cara killed Lester Moorefield. I’m sure of it.”

I threw the telephone down on the passenger seat and focused on the road in front of me. I had to get out of this deserted stretch of highway. I hit the accelerator, hoping my Jeep had the power to elude her, but just as I did, my car started to die. It was all I could do to get it off the road before it quit entirely.