Strawberry Murder: A Frosted Love Cozy Mystery - Book 13 (Frosted Love Cozy Mysteries) (7 page)

Chas
ordered round-the-clock protection for Echo in the form of a patrol car
stationed in front of his house when he wasn’t at home. Missy returned home and
tried to resume her normal life. The LaChance shop was almost ready to reopen,
the Dellville shop was busier than ever, and Brad had been replaced so that
filming of
The Bayou Baker
could resume, but always in the back of her
mind was the fact that Echo wouldn’t be safe until Frank Capetti was behind
bars. Missy had temporarily moved in with Chas as well, just in case, and the
two friends sat up late into the night, talking and making up for lost time.
Echo had apologized profusely again and again for doubting Missy’s intuition
about Frank, and vowed to never become involved with someone so quickly again.

Ben
and Cheryl had returned to work, alternating days and shifts so that one of
them was always home with their beautiful little girl, Cameron Melissa Radigan.
Missy had been moved to tears when they had told her the name that they had
chosen, and even more so when they asked her to be little Cammie’s godmother.
She’d visited her little namesake numerous times, never failing to be delighted
by the perfect tiny features and adorable cooing sounds that the beautiful
creature made. Echo teased her, hinting that she and Chas should have kids, and
Missy replied that she happened to have two kids already, they just disguised
themselves with fur coats.

Missy
was working the front counter of
Crème de la Cupcake
when Samantha, the
newest member of the
Burgundies and Books
book club came in, looking
rather down.

“Hi
Sam! How are you today?” she asked, trying to draw the quiet woman out a bit.

“Hi
Missy,” she replied. “I’m here to drown my sorrows in easy carbs and powerful
caffeine,” she confessed, making a face.

“Awww…I
can help you with that,” Missy smiled, reaching for Mochaccino Melt and a mug
for coffee. “What’s wrong?”

“I’m
not quite sure,” the attractive nurse shrugged. “Marsha introduced me to the
book club because she and I had become good friends and she knew that I’d enjoy
it, but now that I’ve made friends with some of the other gals, she barely
speaks to me.”

“Have
you talked to her about it?”

“I’ve
tried,” Sam pursed her lips and shook her head. “She just says that everything
is fine and that I’m imagining things, but she never invites me to her house
anymore, and hardly ever calls or texts back.”

“Maybe
things are just busy for her right now,” Missy suggested, hoping that was the
case. She liked both Sam and Marsha and hoped that they’d be able to work
things out.

“Yeah,
maybe,” she nodded. “Anyway, I’m so glad that you’re back, we missed you and
were so worried,” Sam added, taking the mug and plate that were offered.

“All’s
well that ends well,” Missy smiled, hoping that everything actually had ended.
“Enjoy your carbs and caffeine – they’re on the house today.”

“You’re
the best, Missy, thank you so much,” the grateful gal headed for a table.

**

Echo
was bored to tears. If she had to read one more magazine or watch one more
cooking show on cable, she swore she’d scream. Chas’s elegant ranch home had
turned into a gilded cage where she felt protected, but trapped. It had been
days since Frank Capetti had escaped, surely if he had planned to make a move
against her, he already would have. She wandered restlessly to the kitchen,
opened the state-of-the-art refrigerator, looked for a boredom snack, and,
finding nothing appealing, closed it again. She repeated the process with the
pantry, the dogs trailing around behind her, hoping for a treat.

Plopping
down on the couch, Echo decided that it couldn’t do any harm to go outside for
a breath of fresh air, and then further decided that she’d be adequately protected
if she took the dogs for a walk. Rather than stopping to weigh the pros and
cons of such an action, she simply grabbed the leashes from the peg by the back
door and returned to the living room to snap them onto the collars of the
excited canines. Peeking out of the space between the curtains and the wall,
she verified that the two unfortunate police officers who were currently tasked
with babysitting her were both in the car, and headed for the back door, dogs
in tow.

Echo
stepped onto the back patio, noting how incredibly excited that Toffee and
Bitsy were to be going for a walk and nodded with satisfaction at having made
the right decision. Just so that she didn’t worry the officers out front
unnecessarily, she crept stealthily through the back yard, exiting into an
alley that ran behind the house, and headed for the nearest park, feeling free
for the first time in weeks. She filled her lungs with fresh air, happy to be
alive.

The
carefree Californian and her canine companions hadn’t gotten very far when
Toffee stopped short, staring into a hedge of evergreens and growling low in
her throat, the fur on the back of her neck rising in alarm.

“What’s
the matter, girlie?” Echo asked, thinking that the mild-mannered retriever must
have spotted another dog. She followed Toffee’s gaze, seeing nothing and tried
to continue walking. The golden refused to budge and kept up the low rumbling.
Bitsy started shaking like a leaf and hid behind Echo’s legs.

“Okay,”
Echo said, feeling frustrated. “If you don’t want to go that way, we’ll go this
way,” she said, turning around and tugging on Toffee’s leash. The golden
retriever was reluctant to go, and kept looking back over her shoulder as
though she was being followed.

“You
silly dog, I’ve never seen you like this,” she ruffled the fur on top of
Toffee’s head and received a knowing gaze for her trouble. Bitsy ran ahead,
acting like she wanted to get as far away from whatever had provoked her canine
friend as possible. The trio moved forward, but the mood had been tinged with
the slightest hint of fear.

From
behind her, Echo heard a familiar voice that sent adrenalin shooting through
her veins at light speed.

“I
told you that Florida wasn’t the end of things between us, Echo. We’ve got some
business to take care of,” Frank Capetti stated in a calm, sinister voice, his
arms crossed over his chest as he stood in the middle of the road about 50 feet
behind her. Toffee lunged at her leash, barking and showing her teeth, her coat
standing up in an aggressive ridge that ran from her neck to her tail.

“Control
that animal or I’ll break its neck with my bare hands,” he called out, raising
his voice to be heard over the din.

Echo
was terrified, both for herself and for Toffee. She had no idea what to do.
Should she release their leashes so that they could either charge Frank or
escape? Should she try to quiet the agitated animal so that she didn’t get
hurt? Should she run?

Fortunately,
she never had to make any of those difficult and problematic decisions. Two
uniformed officers ran out from the side of a house to the left, weapons
raised, and when Frank darted to the right, he was intercepted by another cop
who had been waiting behind a clump of juniper bushes. He struggled and fought,
but was ultimately no match for the team of determined officers.

Echo
ran all the way back to Chas’s house, where he and Missy greeted her with open
arms.

“I
was so scared,” she cried into Missy’s shoulder. “I have no idea how those
officers knew exactly where to find me. I had sneaked out the back door on
purpose and they found me anyway. It’s like they were guardian angels or
something.”

“Well,
before we start attributing supernatural powers to my guys, you should know
that they staged the whole “sitting out front and leaving the back unattended”
thing in order to give Capetti false confidence. We figured that you’d get
bored and sneak out, and we also thought that when you did, it was likely that
Frank would be lying in wait for you, so we stationed officers throughout the
neighborhood for those very reasons, and it turned out that sitting around in
the bushes for several days and being patient paid off,” Chas explained with a
wry grin.

“Wow,
I feel like an idiot,” Echo giggled, wiping away the traces of tears from her
eyes and cheeks.

“You
shouldn’t,” the detective replied. “You did exactly what we expected you to do,
which helped us catch the bad guy. That’s certainly not anything to be
embarrassed about.”

“I’m
just glad that it’s finally over,” Echo shuddered.

“Me
too,” Missy agreed. “It’s been horrible looking over my shoulder and jumping at
shadows, I’m ready for life to return to normal.”

“Has
your life ever been normal?” her boyfriend teased.

Missy
stuck her tongue out at him. “Just for that, mister, you’re making dinner,” she
decreed.

“In
that case, into the car, ladies, we’re going out for Cajun tonight to
celebrate,” he gestured to the door.

“Don’t
you have to go interrogate Frank or something?” Echo asked.

“Nope,
the officers on duty will file a report, and Capetti can cool his heels in a
holding cell until I get darn good and ready to talk to him,” Chas grinned
wickedly.

“Couldn’t
happen to a nicer guy,” she nodded appreciatively.

Chas
cradled little Cammie Melissa in the crook of his arm while the contented
infant slept peacefully.

“For
someone with no experience, you’re pretty amazing with babies,” Missy observed
with a tender smile. She loved seeing this sensitive side of the keenly
intelligent detective who was accustomed to dealing with tough guys and
criminals. Ben and Cheryl had reluctantly gone out to dinner for the first time
since little Cammie came along, and had tasked Missy and Chas with babysitting.
Ever the efficient manager, Cheryl had left a comprehensive list of
instructions for the godparents, along with her cell phone number and strict
orders to call if they needed anything.

“It’s
actually a lot like processing a crime scene,” he replied with a mischievous
grin. “You de-escalate the emotional distress of the victim by providing
support and comfort, you assess and fulfill physical needs, and after the scene
has been contained, you send a team in to do clean-up.”

Missy
giggled at his analysis of procedures for babysitting, and quickly quieted when
Cammie stirred, making all sorts of adorable baby sounds.

“Have
you ever thought about it?” she half-whispered, keeping a close eye on her
slumbering god-daughter.

“What?
Crime scenes?” he teased.

“No,
being a daddy,” Missy asked, visualizing him in the role. “I bet you’d be good
at it.”

“A
few times maybe,” he shrugged, gazing down at the sleeping child in his arms.
“But I never had a relationship that was solid enough to think about seriously
considering the prospect. I think if I ever really wanted kids, I’d actually
just adopt. I can’t tell you how many unwanted kids I encounter in the course
of my job,” he frowned. “What about you? Have you ever thought about it?”

“Not
really,” Missy admitted. “I took over the family business when I was seventeen.
There wasn’t even enough time to date, much less think about babies, and that’s
what my life was about for decades. Now that things are slowing down a bit, the
thought crossed my mind, but honestly, I don’t think I’d have the energy to do
it full-time. Babies are wonderful, but they’re an awful lot of work.”

“It’s
nice to visit, but I wouldn’t want to live there,” he joked.

“Exactly!”
Missy laughed, so glad that he understood and didn’t think less of her for not
having a ticking biological clock.

The
detective rose slowly to a standing position and headed for the nursery, placing
little Cammie gently in her crib and switching on the baby monitor nearby. He
placed his arm around Missy’s shoulders and they stood gazing down at the tiny
pink face of their godchild, soaking in the sweetness of the moment, then
turned and went back to the living room. Settling on the couch to watch a
movie, Missy snuggled into his embrace, tilting her face up for a kiss.

“Mmm…I
could get used to this,” Chas murmured, burying his face in her hair.

“What,
babysitting?” Missy asked, her eyes closed, enjoying the moment.

“No,
I was thinking more along the lines of you and me, enjoying each other’s
company.”

“Well,
we do that pretty often,” she observed with a smile.

“I
just can’t get enough of you, Missy Gladstone,” he said, his blue eyes
capturing her gaze.

“Good,”
she whispered.

They
fell asleep about halfway through the movie, and were snuggled up and snoring
softly when Cheryl and Ben came home after their date. Rather than disturbing
them, Cheryl placed a light blanket over the couple. Ben switched off the baby
monitor in the living room and the new parents headed to bed.

“Think
they’ll ever be doing this?” Ben asked his wife as they pulled the covers up to
their chins.

“The
family thing?” Cheryl asked, then nodded. “Yeah, in their own time and in their
own way, I’m sure they will.