Chewy Chocolate Chip Murder: A Cookie Lane Cozy Mystery - Book 1 Read online

  “I’ll be in touch, Miss Kelley,” he said, then walked to the door, back as stiff as a rock cake. He strode down the hall, and his boots clomped on the stairs.

  Cat resumed her pacing. She walked to the window, ripped the curtains open, and stared down at the road, lit by the glowing orbs on top of the wrought iron streetlamps.

  “The Walters residence,” she whispered. “The Walters residence.”

  Detective Bradshaw appeared below. He crossed the street, then got into his police cruiser, started the engine and drove off.

  Cat tapped her fingers on the sides of thighs and tension unfurled in her chest. She had to know what had happened. And most of all, she had to know why Tara had killed Beth.

  For closure, for Beth and the future of Walters family. Rachel was involved in this too, and first impressions aside, she’d turned out to be a sweet girl.

  Catherine turned and rushed through to the kitchen. She snatched her car keys off the wooden pegs next to the fridge, then ran for the hall.

  Chapter 19

  The front door to the Walters’ house stood open. The porch light illuminated the welcome mat and a tiny semi-circle of the wooden passage within. Jack Bradshaw’s cruiser sat across the road, empty.

  “Oh boy,” Cat whispered. “This doesn’t look good.”

  She had to go in and find out what’d happened, but she didn’t want to get hurt.

  “Smart,” she said. “Come on, Catherine. You were raised to think outside the box.”

  Then an idea flashed in her eyes and reverberated into her brain and through to her limbs. She clunked open her car door, got out, then closed it with her hips. Catherine scooted up the path to the door, took a right, and circled to the bushes she’d hidden in, earlier that week.

  “Please be in the living room, please be in the living room,” she whispered and crossed her fingers.

  She crouched and crept along the side of the house. Branches scraped her forearms and picked at the fabric of her jeans. She pushed past them.

  Voices rang out from the living room. An argument of some kind.

  Cat stopped to the left of the living room window and shut her eyes. “Please, be in the –”

  “Everyone calm down,” Detective Bradshaw said. She’d recognize his voice anywhere.

  Catherine peered through the window. Four people stood in the room, arranged at opposite ends.

  Tara Walters over by the sofa. Joseph Walters next to the piano. Jack Bradshaw in the doorway, his hand on the clip of his holster. And Jarred Weaver, closest to the window, his back to Cat. His loose shirt flapped in the breeze, which whipped past her nose and swept into the living room.

  “Calm down?” Joseph Walters asked. Then grasped at his hairpiece. He ripped it off his head and waggled it. “Calm down?”

  “Joseph,” Tara hissed. “I told you to keep your hair on.”

  “This intruder has accused my wife of murdering my Great Aunt,” he growled. “How am I supposed to calm down?”

  “She hired me to kill her,” Jarred Weaver said, calm as could be. His arms swung at his sides. He reached up and scratched the back of his greasy neck. “I did what I had to do. Now, I want my money or else –”

  “Lies!” Joseph exploded, then threw the hairpiece at the trespasser.

  It sailed past his shoulder and out the window. Cat ducked back, and the thing swept above her head.

  “What’s wrong with you?” Jarred asked.

  “You killed a woman,” Tara said. “You’re one to talk.”

  “Yeah, on your orders! And now I want my pay,” Weaver replied. He flexed his fingers at his sides.

  Detective Bradshaw’s gaze flicked from one person to the next. His body was tense, but his eyes remained calm.

  Joseph glared at his wife. “Tara, will you please tell this man to leave our home? He’s clearly a liar, and I won’t stand –”

  “He’s not lying,” she snapped.

  The room fell silent. Bradshaw raised his eyebrows ever so slightly, then relaxed them again.

  “What?” Joseph asked. “What did you just say?”

  “I said, he’s not lying. I ordered him to kill Beth.”

  Joseph stumbled back and grabbed at the piano to steady himself. He squashed a few keys flat, and a discordant tone sounded in the living room. “No.”

  “Yes,” Tara replied. “I ordered him to kill her, and I’d do it again. She did nothing for our family. Every time we asked her for help, she rejected us.”

  “Why, Tara? How could you do this?”

  Tara reached up and jerked on her string of pearls – pink this time. “I did what I had to do to save this family.”

  “What are you talking about?” Joseph asked.

  “Everything was fine until you lost your job, Joseph. Fine! And then the bills came in. College fees for Kevin and Rachel. Electricity, the mortgage, the gambling debts from your little habit.”

  “What? I don’t –”

  “Don’t bother lying, Joseph, I spoke to Richard at the casino. He told me they had to ban you,” she replied. “So, yeah, I did what I had to do. I stepped up to the plate to support our family.”

  This was messy and Tara was delusional. She’d only made matters worse.

  “Beth –”

  “Beth was nothing,” Tara replied. “She didn’t care about you, or any of us.”

  “That’s not true,” Detective Bradshaw said.

  Tara flinched and looked at him – perhaps she’d forgotten his presence. “What did you say?”

  “Beth paid for Kevin’s college tuition in full. All the years. You might have ruined one life, but your son’s future is secured, thanks to the woman you murdered.”

  “What?” Joseph whispered. He touched his fingers to his lips. “I had no idea. I called her a few days before she died and begged for help. I didn’t know she followed through.”

  Tara shrunk on the spot and sat down on the sofa. She placed her head in her palms.

  “I don’t care about any of this,” Jarred Weaver said. “I was hired for a service. I performed said service, and now I want my payment, or this isn’t going to end well.”

  “Are you crazy?” Joseph asked. “You’re trying to extort money for murder in front of an officer of the law.”

  Crickets chirped in the ensuing silence. That was a good point. The only way Jarred would reveal himself as the murderer was if he thought he could get away with it. And that meant –

  “I don’t have the money,” Tara said, from between her hands. “Beth’s inheritance didn’t pay out to the family. It paid out to some idiot who runs a bakery store.”

  “Watch your mouth,” Detective Bradshaw snapped, through a clenched jaw.

  “Are you telling me, you’re not going to pay for my services? Because that would be very, very foolish,” Weaver said. He ran a hand over the top of his bald head, then crossed his other arm behind his back.

  “I can’t pay,” Tara whispered.

  “Then this is over,” Weaver replied. He reached into the back of his jeans. A flash of black metal appeared beneath the hem of his shirt.

  “Jack,” Cat yelled. “He’s got a gun!”

  The detective whipped his weapon out of his holster and pointed it directly at Weaver’s chest. “Freeze,” he said. “Put your hands above your head.”

  Jarred Weaver raised his arms, growling under his breath. “This isn’t the end,” he said.

  “I’m afraid you’re mistaken,” Detective Bradshaw replied. “That’s exactly what this is.” He strode forward, weapon aimed and cuffs at the ready.

  Chapter 20

  “Okay, you can come in, but keep your eyes closed,” Cat said. “No peeking!”

  “I’m not peeking, I swear,” Lacy replied. She pressed her fingers to her eyes and walked into Cat’s Cookies, guided by Catherine’s hand on her back.

  “I hope you love this as much as I do,” she said. Nerves tumbled through her belly. This was the biggest move she’d made
in the store since Beth had first given it to her.

  She led Lacy to the front counter, then halted. A grin seeped onto her lips. “Are you ready?”

  “I’m ready,” Lacy whispered. “Show me before I hyperventilate!”

  “Okay, you can look,” Car replied.

  Lacy dropped her palms from her eyes, then gasped. Laughter bubbled up from the pit of her stomach. The most joyous noise the woman had made in the store since she’d first started.

  “Are you serious?” Lacy asked and darted to the brand, spanking new coffee machine, complete with a red bow on top to mark the occasion. “No more coffee wars and Everest?”

  “I’m dead serious,” Cat said. “Oh, and there’s one other thing.”

  “What?” Lacy asked, and spun to face her, excitement radiating off her in waves.

  “You can come out, now!” Catherine called.

  Rachel popped out of the kitchen, grinning from ear to ear. Her bright pink hair shone under the down lights in the store, but she’d lost the grungy makeup and lipstick. “Surprise,” she yelled.

  Lacy shrieked, then laughed again. “What? I don’t understand.”

  “Rachel’s going to join us in the store. She’s my new assistant. I figured you were already overworked, and with Beth’s inheritance, I’ll be able to bring her on, keep you and up the number of sales we make each day.”

  “I can’t thank you enough for this opportunity, Cat,” Rachel said. She’d had to move out of the Walters residence since the bank had foreclosed.

  She’d found a tiny apartment down the street, within walking distance.

  “There’s no need to thank me. We need you as much as you need us, I can assure you. Poor Lacy has been running her feet raw in the bakery.”

  Lacy pressed her palm to the spot over her heart and closed her eyes for a second. “Oh, but that’s over now. No more coffee complaints or Starbuck swap outs or mean caffeine-deprived customers. This is perfect. I’m so happy I could squirm.”

  “I’m glad you are. So, starting tomorrow, we’re bringing out an all new cookie. It’s going to be huge,” she said. “And with Rach’s help, we can make it a week to remember.”

  Lacy and Rachel grinned and walked up to Catherine. Cat grabbed the two of them in a bear hug and the trio giggled.

  She'd split the rest of Beth's money down the middle. Half of it invested for the future of the store, and the other half donated to a charity in need.

  “Knock, knock,” a man said. “Am I interrupting something?”

  The women broke out of the hug and turned to the door.

  Detective Bradshaw strode into the room. He wore a smile that made the squishy, romantic bit of Cat melt. She hadn’t had a boyfriend since high school. She hadn’t bothered with the concept of romance at all.

  “Not at all. How can I help you, Detective?” Cat asked.

  Rachel and Lacy retreated to the new coffee machine and proceeded to load it up with grounds. They pressed buttons and made appreciative noises.

  “You can’t help me,” Bradshaw replied. “Trust me. You’ve done more than enough.”

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to interfere in your case. I just –”

  “Not what I meant,” he said and chuckled. “Look, I’ll level with you. I didn’t think you did it from the start, but I needed to investigate every possible lead. It’s what a good detective does.”

  “Oh,” Cat said, then cleared her throat. “Thanks for the vote of confidence, I guess.”

  “No problem,” he replied. “Honestly, I couldn’t have solved this without you. Which isn’t a good thing to say. I don’t approve of you investigating on your own time, but I couldn’t find the link between Tara and Jarred Weaver. You provided that. Thanks to you, Beth’s murderers are behind bars.”

  Catherine blushed and fanned her face. “Stop,” she said, then chuckled. “I’m not used to compliments.”

  “I find that hard to believe,” he said. “You’re beautiful. You must get them all the time.”

  Eggs could’ve fried on her cheeks. “Thank you,” she coughed. “I, um, is there anything I can get you? A cookie or a cup of coffee? We’ve got a new machine.”

  Detective Bradshaw smiled at her. His green eyes lit up like the night sky on the 4th of July. “Yeah, that’d be great.”

  “Right this way, Detective,” she said and gestured to the coffee machine.

  “Please, Cat,” he said, then touched her on the shoulder. “Call me Jack.”

  A slow smile spread across his lips, and she matched it with one of her own. No matter what the future held, no matter how much she missed Beth, she’d made two new friends. Hopefully, they’d be for life.

  Catherine led the way to the machine in the corner, happiness coursing through her for the first time in a week.

  THE END

  A letter from the Author

  To each and every one of my Amazing readers: I hope you enjoyed this story as much as I enjoyed writing it. Let me know what you think by leaving a review!

  I’ll be releasing another installment in two weeks so to stay in the loop (and to get free books and other fancy stuff) Join my Book club.

  Stay Curious,

  Karen Sullivan