Death by Chocolate Cupcake Read online

  “Tonight?” she asked.

  I chuckled. “Tomorrow.”

  “Can I check in when I want?”

  Oh, boy, this was opening a can of worms.

  “Sure,” I said.

  “That makes me feel better, although it doesn’t help much tonight.”

  “I’ll call you in the morning,” I said.

  “You’d better. I’ll be calling you if you don’t.”

  “I know you will,” I said.

  After hanging up, I slipped into my pajamas and crawled into bed. I had to admit I was nervous. I lay there awake for a long time wondering about everything. Could the person still be in the house? Would they come back? All the horrible thoughts whirled around in my head. Finally after what seemed like hours, but in reality was probably less than an hour, I drifted off to sleep.

  ***

  The morning sun splashed across my face. I checked my phone. It was six-thirty. I immediately dialed my mom’s number. She would be calling soon so I figured I might as well place the call now.

  Filming wouldn’t resume until tomorrow. So now I decided I would have breakfast and then perhaps look into this murder a bit more. I wanted to know more about Ruby and Corina. Plus, what was the relationship between Kyle and Corina? I needed to call the detective and see if he had any news on the pie from last night. It would probably do me good to get out of the house and try to relax a bit. Maybe a bit of shopping would make me feel better. One thing that was on my shopping list was the surveillance cameras. I knew my mother wouldn’t stop asking until they were installed.

  As I headed toward the kitchen to make an omelet, my phone rang. Immediately apprehension took over. Kristen was calling. For a moment, I panicked and wondered if filming was today and I’d gotten the day wrong. Luckily since it was still early, I would have time to get there.

  As I answered the call I continued my plan for breakfast, opening up the refrigerator door and grabbing the eggs. “I hope nothing’s wrong. We don’t have filming today, right?”

  “No, no filming today,” Kristen said.

  There was a hesitation in her voice and I knew something was wrong.

  “Did I make a mistake yesterday?” I asked.

  “It’s just that… well, there’s been talk,” she said.

  “Talk about what?” I asked as I set the eggs on the counter so that I wouldn’t drop them when she gave me the bad news.

  Waiting for her response was killing me.

  “Well, it’s just that with all the bad press they’re not sure they want to continue the show. We’ll film a couple more, but if they don’t solve this murder soon, then they’ll probably pull the plug on the show.”

  “But we just started,” I said like a pouting child.

  “I know, but it’s just that it’s too much bad press. Unless you do something to make the show fantastic—then they won’t be able to cancel.”

  “I understand,” I said around a sigh. “I’ll do anything I can to keep them from cancelling. Have you talked to Finn yet?”

  “Yes, I talked to him, but you might want to give him a call. You two need to work together to save the show.”

  “I’ll call him. Thank you, Kristen. I’ll see you tomorrow?”

  “Yes, we’re still on for tomorrow as of now. If anything changes I’ll call you.”

  “Thank you for everything,” I said. “You’re fantastic.”

  I tried not to cry, but I knew my voice cracked. As soon as I ended the call, I dialed Finn’s number. He’d actually programmed his number into my phone because he’d said I would need it. Was that a premonition or just him being Finn? He answered right away when I called.

  “I was expecting a call from you,” he said.

  “Kristen just called me,” I said. “We need to figure this out.”

  “What do you mean by that? Solve the murder?”

  “If that’s what it takes,” I said.

  “I hardly think we can do that over the phone right now. We should meet for lunch to discuss this,” he said.

  I didn’t know about that. However, I supposed he was right. We couldn’t talk about this on the phone. “I have a lot of things to do today. We could make it an early dinner.”

  “Actually, I have some other things in the afternoon. Could you make it at seven?”

  “Yeah, that’ll be okay,” I said.

  “You don’t sound excited.”

  “Well, considering we’re talking about murder, I’m not exactly jumping for joy.”

  “Touché,” he said. “I’ll see you at the restaurant at seven.”

  “I’ll see you then,” I said.

  After the call ended, I leaned against the counter and released a deep breath. I couldn’t believe all this had happened in the past few days. Getting this house, getting the show, finding a dead woman, and now trying to solve the murder. Not to mention the creepy note and pie.

  Even though I didn’t feel like eating, I made breakfast so that I would have fuel for the trip ahead. It would be a busy day. I had to bring a change of clothes for dinner because I surely wouldn’t wear anything too nice just to go shopping. I put on jeans, a white T-shirt, and my tennis shoes.

  I stood in front of my closet studying what I would bring for dinner. How about the simple black dress? Yes, that would have to do. I grabbed the dress, put it in my tote bag along with my black heels too. After pulling my hair in a ponytail, I grabbed my makeup bag and dumped it into the tote too.

  Before stepping out the kitchen door I hesitated, looking outside for any signs of the strange man running around like my neighbor had told me about. No one was in sight, so I walked outside and locked the door behind me.

  “Oh, good. I wanted to talk to you.”

  Dropping my bag, phone, and keys, I threw my hands in the air while screaming.

  “Oh, did I scare you?” Lucille stood nearby, clutching her chest.

  I’d probably nearly given her a heart attack when I screamed. I rushed over to her. “Are you all right?”

  “I’ll be fine,” she said in a weak voice.

  “I didn’t realize you were there. With everything that’s going on I’m a bit on edge,” I said.

  “That’s what I came to talk to you about,” she said. “I saw all the police cars. They wouldn’t let me anywhere near the house. I was worried about you.”

  “Right, everything is fine now.” I didn’t want to scare her any more than I had to. “I suppose I thought… maybe I heard something.” I couldn’t tell her the truth right now.

  “What did you hear?” she asked with wide eyes.

  “Oh, it was probably just a raccoon.”

  She nodded. “There are a lot of animals out here. It’s good that you called. Better safe than sorry, though, I suppose.”

  “Everything is fine now,” I said.

  “That’s good to hear, dear.”

  I picked up my belongings. “I would love to stay and talk, but I have a few errands.”

  I really wanted to get my shopping over with so that I could visit with my parents before dinner tonight.

  “Oh, I see that you’re headed somewhere. Another busy day?” she asked. “You sure aren’t here often.”

  “Well, work keeps me busy,” I said. “Can I give you a ride back over to your house?”

  “Oh, no. I like getting exercise. That’s what keeps me going. When you stop working out and get lazy that’s when it’s all downhill.” she said, moving her arm, mimicking traveling downhill.

  I smiled. “Yes, I suppose that is true.”

  Lucille marched down the driveway toward her place. Once past my car she turned to face me again. “I’ve been looking for that car again.”

  “Have you seen anything?” I asked, opening my car door.

  “Nothing yet, but I’ll let you know if I do.”

  “Thank you,” I said with a wave.

  I watched as she walked the rest of the way down the driveway. After slipping into the car I buckled my seatb
elt. Through the rearview mirror I saw that she was in her yard, so I pulled out of the driveway. Lucille watched me from her lookout point on the front porch. I waved as I drove away. At least I knew I had her watching over the house. It hadn’t helped much last night though. Which seemed kind of odd. I’d figured she was guarding this area like a soldier.

  My first step today would be to get the cameras. That would be the most important thing. I’d had them at my last place for security purposes, so it was only natural to do it here too, even without the strange things happening.

  I’d almost made it to town when I saw that car again. Are you kidding me? What would I do? Should I try to lose the car, or should I drive straight to the police station and let the crazy person follow me? I touched my phone’s screen and asked for directions to the nearest police station. It was too dangerous to call the detective right now. I would just get directions and drive someplace safe.

  I followed the directions and was halfway to the police station, but when I looked in the rearview mirror the car was gone. They must have figured out where I was taking them. Nevertheless, I was almost there so I pulled into the parking lot.

  I sat there for a moment and wondered if I should call the detective. Maybe it hadn’t been that car at all, just one that looked like it. I didn’t want to be too paranoid and call over every little thing, so I decided to let this go.

  Still feeling anxious, I headed out of the parking lot and on to the store. At least there were no other issues for that drive. Luckily, I made it in and out of the store without a problem. Now I would stop by my parents’ house and let my mother know that I had the cameras. She would see them in person and that would make her feel better.

  My parents and I sat on the front porch of white colonial style home drinking iced tea. I’d filled them in on the details of what had happened. I left out the really scary stuff though. No reason to worry them more than they already were worrying. My father had oil grease on the front of his white shirt and khaki shorts. Mama glared at him when she saw the stains. He was always tinkering with the car when it didn’t need it. My mother wore pink shorts, white blouse, and pink flip flops.

  “It’s a good thing you got the cameras,” my father said as he rubbed the cold glass against his forehead. “That’s my smart girl.”

  “She gets that from her mama,” my mother said.

  Movement caught out attention, stopping the conversation. A black sedan sped up in front of the house and parked. When the man climbed out from behind the wheel I recognized him right away. My cousin Travis Mansfield fixed his stare on us as he walked toward the front porch.

  “What does he want?” my mother asked.

  Normally my mother was always happy to see family. However, the last time my mother had seen Travis he’d been mean to her. At my grandmother’s funeral he’d started an argument with my mother over the farmhouse and its contents. My father got up from the chair and stepped off the porch to meet Travis.

  “I hope he isn’t here to cause trouble,” my mother said. “I’ll call the police on him. I don’t care if his mama gets mad.”

  My mother and I watched as my father talked with Travis. Every so often Travis looked my way. I sensed that he wasn’t happy with me. After a few minutes, he walked away from my father and got back into his car. I hoped that he wasn’t leaving without incident. My dad walked back over to the porch and sat down.

  “Well, what happened?” my mother asked.

  My dad sighed. “He wanted to know if he could stay at the farmhouse for a while.”

  “What?” my mother and I said in unison. “Why?”

  “He said he just wanted to save on rent and thought he’d crash with Scarlet for a while.”

  “Did you tell him he’s crazy?” my mother asked.

  “More or less,” my dad said and then took a drink of iced tea.

  I looked at the time on my phone. “This is crazy. I have to get dressed for my dinner appointment.”

  Without more discussion I jumped up and headed inside to change. I wasn’t sure what to think about Travis. For now though, I had to push the thoughts out of my head. I dressed in my black dress and black heels. I grabbed my bag and slipped on another layer of lip gloss. Not that I was getting dressed up for dinner or anything, but it was a nice place. No doubt Finn would be dressed nicely, and I didn’t want him to upstage me. He was probably expecting me to dress like a slob.

  I waved goodbye to my parents and got into the car, headed for the restaurant. It was a short distance from the house. Darkness had already taken over now with a cloudless sky and a million stars. Circling around a couple times, I finally found a parking spot, but it was a bit far from the restaurant. I hated walking down the sidewalk in heels. Let’s face it, I wasn’t that great at it. Considering I couldn’t find a closer spot, I would have to do it.

  I headed down an alleyway that led to the sidewalk. Of course, this made me a bit nervous. I kept glancing over my shoulder. Seconds later, footsteps sounded from behind me. I glanced over my shoulder again and saw someone back there. It was too dark to see exactly who was there, but it seemed as if the person was following me. My nerves went into overdrive. My stomach twisted as the footsteps grew louder.

  I couldn’t get a good look because I didn’t want to slow myself down by glancing back. The person seemed tall though. It was definitely a male dressed in black. That description wasn’t much help. I just needed to get out of the alley to the front sidewalk where there was a streetlight.

  Practically running now, I hurried around the corner. Thank goodness I was on the sidewalk now. Traffic moved up and down the street in front of me. The restaurant was still a good distance away though. In spite of my heels, I was somehow managing to run down the sidewalk.

  I glanced back, but the person who had been following me wasn’t there. Relief came over me now that the man was gone. I hoped it stayed that way. Maybe he wasn’t really following me at all and I was just paranoid. However, who could blame me for feeling that way after everything that happened? I just wanted to get inside the restaurant and find Finn Fine. I hoped he was already here. After dinner I would have him walk me back to my car.

  With my feet aching and labored breathing, I finally reached the restaurant door and practically fell through onto the floor. I got a few strange looks.

  “May I help you?” the dark-haired man behind the podium asked.

  I waved my hands, trying to tell him I needed a second to catch my breath. Finally, I managed to say, “I’m here to meet Finn Fine. A table for two, please.”

  With a raised eyebrow the man checked his paper and said, “Yes, I have your reservation, but your date hasn’t arrived yet.”

  I shouldn’t be surprised. Finn was late.

  Chapter 13

  “I can show you to your seat,” the man said as he gestured with a menu.

  “Thank you,” I said, looking over my shoulder and wondering if that strange man would show up in the restaurant.

  The host led me through the dining area toward a table in the back. At least I would have a good view of the door for when Finn arrived. I hoped he wasn’t too late. Would he even show up? So help me if he stood me up… The place was crowded as we weaved round the tables. I almost bumped into staff on several occasions.

  The man pulled out the chair for me. “I hope this is all right with you.”

  “It’s perfect, thank you,” I said as I sat down in the chair.

  Whew. I released a deep breath. I hadn’t anticipated practically running a marathon to get here. I looked around at all the couples enjoying dinner. This was a rather romantic setting. Dim lights and soft music. A candle flickered in the middle of the table. That was when it hit me. This was just like a date. A romantic evening over a candlelight dinner. Had Finn had any idea how romantic this place was when he suggested it?

  Was it too late for me to get the heck out of here before Finn arrived? Yep. It was too late for that. As I peered across the room I spotted
Finn. Of course, he looked handsome in his dark suit. He practically lit up the room. His smile was evident from clear across the room. Even those cute dimples. I couldn’t take my eyes off him. He had zeroed in on me, looking at me as if I was the only person in the room. And then I realized that I had butterflies in my stomach. Ugh. I had to make this feeling go away immediately. Finn was the last person I wanted to have butterflies over.

  Finn approached the table. “Have you been waiting long?”

  “I just arrived,” I said.

  Still I couldn’t take my eyes off him. Finn pulled out the chair across for me and sat down.

  “You look beautiful,” he said.

  Oh, great. Compliments, even better. Unfortunately, I was a sucker for compliments. I loved them. I couldn’t help but notice that there was something oddly familiar about Finn. This was strange, but it looked as if he was wearing something extremely similar to the person who had followed me into this place. Could he have been the one behind me? I had to say something. I had to ask him.

  “Did you just arrive?”

  He looked at me strangely. “Yes, you watched me walk in.”

  “No, what I mean is when I walked in there was someone walking behind me. And now that I see you it seems as if the person was dressed exactly like you. I thought maybe it was you and you just didn’t say anything.”

  “Why would I not say anything?” he asked as he looked down at his water glass.

  Was he trying to avoid eye contact?

  “Well, that’s what I would like to know,” I said.

  Just then the waiter came over and stopped the conversation.

  “Are you ready to order?” the waiter asked.

  I glanced at the menu and quickly picked out something. It didn’t really matter as I wasn’t particularly hungry now. We placed orders for cheese tortellini with walnut pesto, spaghetti with crab and asparagus, and white wine.

  When the waiter left, Finn said, “I hope you save room for dessert.”

  His smile would make anyone forget anything bad that might have happened. I supposed I could have a small treat.