Death by Chocolate Cupcake Page 17

  As I rolled up to a red light, the ding of the other phone caught my attention. That wasn’t the sound of my phone. I glanced over and saw that the phone’s screen had lit up. My heart beat faster. I reached down and grabbed the phone. Sure enough, there was a text message.

  You have my phone.

  Oh, my gosh. I looked around as if the person sending the message was right there. Of course, Kristen weren’t since I was at a red light. Should I respond? Or should I just ignore it and pretend like I didn’t have the phone? How did she know I had it? For all she knew she could’ve lost it and no one had found it yet, or maybe a stranger had found it. Kristen didn’t know it was me. She just assumed someone had it, right? The light turned green and the car behind me honked. I set the phone down and took off. I would just ignore it.

  As I pulled up to the next red light, the phone chimed with a text alert again. I couldn’t handle this nervousness. What was the message this time? I picked up the phone.

  I will get the phone back.

  Okay, that sounded bad. I was obviously dealing with someone who was unhinged. Kristen had to be the one sending the messages. After all, she was the one who had won the contest. She’d typed it in the message on the phone. The suspense was getting to me.

  I sat at the red light, wondering if I should actually send a message back. Yes, I had to. I had to tell her that I had the phone. Well, I wouldn’t actually tell my name. Kristen couldn’t find me now anyway. Soon the detective would call me back and this would all be over. As soon as I reached the coffee shop, I would answer her message. I wanted to get to the bottom of this. I spotted the coffee shop up ahead and pushed the gas to hurry through the green light.

  With screeching tires, I whipped into the parking lot. I wouldn’t even bother to wait to go inside before sending the message. I was anxious to find out what the response would be. I was used to typing on my phone, which was much bigger, so I was searching for the letters on the small one. I thought I would keep the first message simple. I didn’t expect a response, but I would ask nonetheless.

  Who is this?

  As if I didn’t know. I hit send and stared at the phone while waiting for a response. After about thirty seconds a message came through.

  Meet me and give me the phone back and you’ll find out.

  Nope. That was a bad idea. Meeting the killer just to return a phone? No, thanks.

  Sorry, I can’t meet you.

  At least I’d been nice and apologized to the killer. Southern charm, right? I waited for another response. Another message came through.

  Don’t make me have to come get it.

  That sent a shiver down my spine. Where was the detective? I needed him right away. I typed out another message, although I probably should just stop now. But I had to know for sure, so I asked again.

  Who is this?

  I pressed the button and the message went through. Maybe I’d regret that now. No, I had to know. It was doubtful I would get an honest answer, but I hoped Kristen would reveal herself to me now. I studied the phone, waiting for it to light up again. It was taking longer than it had. That wasn’t a good sign. I typed out another message.

  I know who you are.

  Okay, now I was taunting a killer. What was wrong with me? That was definitely a bad idea. I definitely shouldn’t hit send. Although Kristen would be arrested soon, and I wasn’t around Kristen now, so how bad could it be? I was feeling way too bold.

  Chapter 26

  You think you know. The message finally came through.

  I was almost positive I knew this was Kristen. She was playing games with me. I wasn’t going to stop until she was arrested. Movement caught my attention. I looked over toward the road and I thought for sure I saw the black car. This sent a shiver down my spine. What should I do now? Was Kristen behind the wheel and now she was looking for me?

  I grabbed the phone and got out of the car. I wanted to hide somewhere so that if she’d seen my car she wouldn’t find me now. The first place she’d look would be inside the coffee shop. I would have to find another spot. If I crossed the street she would probably see me there too. I had to do something quickly though. I was running out of time. The only thing I came up with was going behind the coffee shop. Surely she wouldn’t think to look back there for me.

  I raced around the side of the building. Once at the back, I paused. Nothing was back there except for a Dumpster and some boxes. I leaned up against the brick building trying to catch my breath and calm my nerves. My hand even shook as I held the phone. What would happen now? Maybe she would just go away. The phone dinged and vibrated. I looked at the screen.

  Why are you quiet now? Why don’t you just give me the phone?

  It wasn’t as simple as returning the phone. I knew that and she knew that. She just wanted to lure me to her destination. Well, that wasn’t happening. I’d be more likely to give up baking than go see her.

  I’ve contacted the police. They know who you are too.

  I wasn’t sure she would send a response. I wouldn’t send another text. This was ridiculous. I had the number she was texting from now. I just had to get that to the detective as well. I stood there trying to calm my nerves wondering what to do next. Maybe she was gone. Maybe I could come out from hiding. I’d accidentally left my phone in the car and I really didn’t want to use this one to make a call. Unless of course it was to 911. I sure hoped it didn’t come to that. A rustling noise from beside me made me jump. A gray and black cat darted across the alley way.

  I clutched my chest. “Hello, kitty, you scared me.”

  I’d just decided to go back to the car when the phone alerted me to another text message. Should I even look at it? Maybe I would just ignore any further communication. Curiosity got the best of me though and I peeked at the phone. Reading the message sent a shiver down my spine.

  Why are you running?

  Oh, my gosh. Now I really couldn’t breathe. She’d seen me. She knew I was back here. I had to get out of here. I looked all around for any sign of her. Was she hiding somewhere and watching my every move? I felt like a sitting duck. I was frozen and had no clue if I should run or stay put. Probably getting out of here would be the best idea since she obviously knew I was here. I wouldn’t answer her. I wouldn’t give her that satisfaction. The phone alerted me to another text message. I wasn’t sure I had enough courage to even look at this one. I supposed I had to know if she was really somewhere close by or not.

  Why do you look so upset? Are you scared?

  I dropped the phone. I scanned all around but saw her nowhere. I knew she was hiding somewhere nearby, but I couldn’t find her. I took off for the side of the building. but I didn’t get far. Kristen stepped right out in front of me. I immediately froze. My heart beat so fast I thought it would pop out of my chest.

  “You look scared. Why are you scared?” she asked. “Was it something I said? Perhaps it was something I said in the text message?”

  Her words were like a cold hand running up and down my back. She was getting much pleasure out of taunting me this way. Should I act dumb and pretend like I had no idea what she was talking about? It was unlikely that she would fall for that trick.

  “All of this because I found the phone and you want it back?”

  She chuckled. “Come on. We both know it’s not just because of the phone.”

  Yes, I was well aware it wasn’t just the phone. Was she going to kill me right here behind this building? How long would it be before someone found me? I supposed the poor employees would discover me just as I had found Kristen’s last victim. I hoped they didn’t try to figure out who had killed me. Then she would come after them.

  She had to be stopped, but it didn’t look as if that was something I could pull off. I had no way to get away from her. Now I didn’t even have her stupid phone—I’d dropped it back there. What a dumb move.

  Kristen moved a couple of steps closer to me. I moved a couple of steps back. Fear made me want to run immediately
, but I had to think this through. I had to run in the right direction.

  Chapter 27

  She stood in front of me, staring as if she would attack at any moment. The look in her eyes was unlike anything I’d ever seen before.

  “Why did you do this?” I asked.

  She remained silent, leaving me to piece together why and how. I wanted to know if I was correct.

  “You wanted Adam for yourself,” I said. “And you thought if you got rid of anyone who came in the way of you being with him everything would be fine. You think that coming after me will mean that you can be with him too.”

  “I saw you two together, having coffee,” she said.

  “Well, it’s not what you think,” I said.

  “It looked like you were flirting with him.”

  “I thought he was the killer. Obviously, I was way off with that one.”

  “Obviously,” she said.

  “Why did he have your phone?” I asked.

  “I guess I lost it in his car and he found it.”

  “Why did you lose it in his car? Did you meet with him?” I asked.

  I wasn’t sure why I was asking all these questions. She was going to kill me, and I would have no way to tell anyone her confession.

  “I was in his car because I wanted to leave him a note. I wanted to tell him how I felt.”

  “Thanks to you for losing your phone, I was able to figure out who the killer was.”

  “That’s why I need the phone back,” she said.

  “You can’t have it back,” I said. “I mean if you were to leave me alone, I could give it back to you, but we both know that won’t happen.”

  “I’ll leave you alone if you just give me the phone.” She wiggled her fingers.

  “I’m not falling for that.”

  “It’s true. I’ll leave you alone.” She held her hand up as if swearing.

  “I’m not giving you the phone.”

  The look of fury on her face made me question whether I had made the right decision. With no other words, she lunged for me. When she tackled me we both fell backwards onto the pavement. That was going to leave a bruise.

  I had to get up, but she was trying to wrap her hands around my neck. I knew she wanted to strangle me. I had hold of her arms and I was pushing her away. Maybe it was a shock to her that I wasn’t weak. She was having a tough time keeping me down. I had to use my legs. They were the only things I had free at the moment. I might be short, but I had a bit of strength in my legs. I wrapped my legs around her and squeezed.

  “Let go,” she said breathlessly.

  “You let go first,” I said.

  I was pretty sure this was some kind of wrestling move that I’d seen from my cousins. Somehow, I managed to roll to the left and now I was on top of her. I used all my strength and I pushed back. Thank goodness I broke free from her hold. I started to run away, but she grabbed me from behind. Spinning around, I punched her. Unfortunately, it didn’t knock her out.

  We were back to staring at each other now, wondering which one would make the next move. If I ran she would run after me. Maybe I should attack her, but it would only lead to more fighting, so that probably wouldn’t work either. A swoosh and a bang noise rang out. I didn’t have to make a decision now because the back door of the building opened and smacked Kristen right in the face. A groan escaped her as she tumbled backward.

  “Oh, man, I’m so sorry,” the young man wearing the coffee shop uniform said.

  “Get her,” I yelled as I ran over.

  Kristen was face first on the pavement. Obviously, she was still in a bit of a daze. I had her hands behind her now.

  “Call the police,” I yelled.

  The guy looked completely confused.

  “I need the cops to arrest this woman. She murdered someone.”

  “Oh, my God,” the guy said as he pulled out his cell phone.

  “No need to call the police,” a male voice said.

  I looked over my shoulder and saw that the detective had arrived. He came over with his handcuffs and within seconds had placed them on her. Now maybe I could breathe normally again. Detective Bailey rolled her over and helped her to her feet.

  She glared at me. “She would’ve never gotten away with this if you hadn’t shown up.”

  “Oh, be quiet,” Detective Bailey said.

  Playing out the whole ordeal in my head, I still couldn’t believe what had happened.

  “Are you all right?” the detective asked.

  I released a deep breath. “I think so.”

  “Good work on finding her,” he said. “I’m taking her to my car.”

  The employee was still standing at the door looking thoroughly confused. I followed the detective as he moved toward the front of the building. Kristen still thrashed around, trying to fight him off. As if she would actually get away. I wouldn’t lie: I felt a bit proud that I’d managed to find her. Wait until my family and friends figured out what had happened. They would freak out. This deserved a celebratory cupcake.

  When we reached the front of the building, I spotted Finn as he ran over to me.

  “Are you all right?” he asked. “Thankfully I figured out what was going on and that you were here after you left me that message.”

  “Kristen was the killer,” I said.

  His eyes widened. “Are you serious?”

  “She confessed to everything.”

  “But why?” he asked.

  I shrugged. “She wanted to be with Adam.”

  “So she was just going to eliminate all the women he wanted to date?”

  “Apparently so.”

  “That’s not a very effective plan,” Finn said.

  I watched as Detective Bailey placed Kristen in the back of his car. Other police officers had arrived by now. And the detective was talking to them. I knew this probably wasn’t the best time to think about this, but would the show go on now without Kristen? After she had been arrested for murder?

  ***

  My mother and I sat on the front porch sipping ice cold lemonade. Condensation trickled down the sides of the mason jar glasses. My mother had insisted on coming by to make sure I was all right. I couldn’t blame her for being worried after she’d found out that her daughter had been attacked by a murderer.

  She gently rocked back and forth in chair to the right of the door and I sat in the chair on the left. Unfortunately, there was no gentle breeze at the moment, but the scent from the rosebushes still filled the air around us.

  When movement caught my attention, I spotted Lucille as she crossed the street and walked down the sidewalk toward us. The piglet wiggled in her arms. The cat strolled along beside her.

  “Looks like you have company,” my mother said after taking another sip of her lemonade.

  My mother had tuned in to my surveillance camera and discovered who was leaving things in the house. Also, how the cat had gotten in. Lucille apparently had a key to the house and had decided to leave me the pie. Though Lucille had no idea that she’d accidentally left the door open and that had allowed Kristen to slip into the house and leave the note. Kristen had dressed in men’s clothing and worn a hat to disguise herself so that she wouldn’t be caught.

  She’d dropped her phone in Adam’s car when she’d borrowed it. He’d kept it because he wanted to use it against her. She’d been threatening to fire him for quite a while. Adam should have suspected Kristen was the killer. If she’d threaten him then it wasn’t a stretch to suspect that she’d strangle Corina. Kristen had also been the one to hit me with the car at the park. All of that was over now… with any luck the show would go on.

  When Lucille stepped up to the porch, I asked, “Would you like a glass of lemonade, Lucille?”

  “No thank you, dear. I can’t stay. I just came over to tell you something that I just remembered.”

  “What’s the Lucille?” my mother asked.

  “I left the bowl in the basement. I’d brought it over to return it after b
orrowing it from your grandmother. Ms. Kitty ran down in the basement and I went to get her. I forgot the bowl down there when I picked up Ms. Kitty.”

  “I found it, Lucille. Thank for returning it,” I said.

  Well, another mystery solved. Would there be more mysteries around the farmhouse? I’d just have to wait and see.

  The end.

  Preorder book 2 of The Cupcake Whisperer Mystery Series, Death by Strawberry Cupcake.

  About the Author

  Rose Pressey is a USA Today bestselling author. She enjoys writing quirky and fun novels with a paranormal twist. The paranormal has always captured her interest. The thought of finding answers to the unexplained fascinates her.

  When she’s not writing about werewolves, vampires and every other supernatural creature, she loves eating cupcakes with sprinkles, reading, spending time with family, and listening to oldies from the fifties.

  Rose suffers from Psoriatic Arthritis and has knee replacements. She’s soon having her hips replaced, elbows, and at least one shoulder.

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