Patriot's Passing: Hawg Heaven Cozy Culinary Mysteries, Book 1 Read online

  “Do you have any leftovers from today?” Ryan asked hopefully.

  “Don’t you ever get tired of pork and comfort food?” his mother teased.

  “Are you serious?” he blinked at her in disbelief.

  “Okay, fine, but I’m making a salad to go with it and you have to eat salad before the rest of the stuff,” she bargained.

  “Ugh, do I look like a rabbit or something?”

  Rossalyn laughed aloud. “No, you look like a young man who’s going to be very disappointed if he doesn’t eat his salad.”

  “Is there dessert at least?”

  “I’ll see what I can do Bunny Boy.”

  “That’s not funny, Mom.”

  “You’re right, it’s not funny, it’s hilari…” Rossalyn’s sentence was cut off by her scream. The living room window had shattered, after an object had been thrown through it.

  “Stay here,” she ordered, pulling her cellphone out of her purse with shaking hands. She dialed Morgan’s number, and slowly approached the living room in a crouch.

  “Tyler,” the answer sounded hurried.

  “It’s Rossalyn. Someone just threw a brick through my living room window.”

  “I’m in the middle of something, but I’ll send a patrol car right away. Make sure everything is locked up tight, and stay put. I’ll text you the number of a handyman who’ll put plywood over your window until your new glass comes in.”

  “Okay. Thanks, Morgan.”

  “No problem,” he hung up quickly, making her wonder if he was tired of her bothering him.

  “Mom, what’s going on?” Ryan stood just outside the living room with his school book in his hand.

  “I don’t know, honey. I just don’t know,” she replied quietly.

  Rossalyn walked over to where a stone wrapped in paper and secured with a rubber band had come to rest against the base of the couch. She knew that she shouldn’t touch it, because the police would probably want to take it as evidence, so she left it alone. She told Ryan that he could heat up whatever he wanted for dinner, and went to the front door when she heard a car pull up.

  “Ms. Channing?” a tall, thin officer, a bit older than she, asked with a kind smile.

  “Yes, please come in.”

  “I’m Officer Stan Healey, and I understand you had a little incident.”

  Rossalyn explained what had happened as Healey listened attentively, and when she showed him the rock against the couch, he snapped on a pair of nitrile gloves and gingerly picked it up. He snapped some photos of it with his phone before removing the rubber band and unfolding the paper.

  “Your Next,” it read in crude lettering.

  “Any idea who might want to send that message?” Healey asked quietly, taking a sidelong glance at Ryan as he sat slowly making his way through a plate of ribs and potato salad.

  “There are a few possibilities. Officer Tyler can fill you in on those. What do I do now?” Rossalyn tried to keep her voice calm.

  A pair of headlights flashed into the room, stopping out front.

  “Well, that looks like Fred Edmond’s truck pulling up, so he’ll be able to put some plywood over the broken window, and he’ll also take care of cleaning up the glass for you. For now, that’s about all that you can do. I’m going to talk to some of your neighbors and see if anybody saw anything. If anything else happens, you just give us a call, okay?” he said kindly, moving toward the door, with the rock, paper and rubber band secured within a plastic evidence bag.

  “Okay, I will. Thanks,” Rossalyn rubbed her forehead. She was beginning to have the makings of an awful tension headache.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  * * *

  Only one night’s restless sleep had made Rossalyn look and feel as if she hadn’t slept in a week. She hadn’t even tried to sleep last night; the adrenaline coursing through her would’ve made it impossible, so she took a warm bath, drank lavender tea, wrapped up in her fluffiest robe and tried to read a book, without success. She’d stare blankly at the same page for several minutes, turning the night’s events over and over in her mind.

  Ryan had taken it like a champ, but that might have been because he hadn’t seen what was written on the paper wrapped around the rock. So now Rossalyn was a target, but whose? Jason? Tom? Her stomach churned wildly all night long as she grappled with thoughts of precisely who might want to kill her dump her body in a field by the highway. Maybe whomever it was just wanted to run her out of town for some reason, but as far as she knew, she hadn’t made any enemies.

  When her phone rang, shortly after she arrived at Hawg Heaven, she nearly jumped out of her skin.

  “Hello?”

  “Hi Rossalyn, it’s Morgan. Just wanted to let you know that I found some DNA and fibers from a pair of jeans that snagged on a piece of barbed wire near where Dana’s body was found. I should have the results back later today. If we can figure out who was wearing those jeans, we may have our killer. It’s not much, but it’s a start, I just wanted you to know.”

  “That’s great news, thanks for letting me know.”

  “You holding up okay?”

  “Yeah, tired. Didn’t sleep much.”

  “That’s understandable. The lab is going to try to get fingerprints from the paper that was wrapped around the rock, so things may come together in a big way this afternoon, but don’t get your hopes up, it may lead to more questions than answers.”

  “Sure, I understand.”

  “Good. I’ve gotta run, but, Rossalyn… ?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Be careful out there.”

  “I will.”

  Rossalyn Channing was never one to sit by and let others do all the work, so after she hit the end button on her phone, she went to the kitchen to check on José and Jason.

  “Where’s Jason?” she asked José, who was working at the speed of light to get all of the morning prep work done.

  “He’s not here,” the cook shrugged, continuing his work.

  “Has he called in? I didn’t see any messages on the machine by the register.”

  “The phone hasn’t rung since I got here.”

  “Hmm… I’ll try to give him a call. Will you be okay here for about half an hour? I have an errand that I need to run, but I’ll be back before we open.”

  “Yep, I’m fine.”

  “I’ll lock up on my way out. Thanks José,” she gave him a long look, wondering why he was so quiet, and went on her way.

  “No problem,” he smiled, finally.

  Wondering if she was crazy, leaving José like this when neither Jason’s nor Tom’s whereabouts were accounted for, Rossalyn climbed into her SUV and headed for the other side of town, to Ogden’s Mini-Mart, where Dana had worked. She went into the store and picked up a random sampling of items, Ryan’s favorite sports drink, a hairbrush, and a package of peanut butter cups. She had to buy something so that she could talk to the clerk, and she hoped against hope that it would be Abbey, Dana’s best friend, working today.

  Jackpot! The plain young woman with long red hair and glasses, sitting behind the counter reading a book, wore a nametag that said, “Abbey.”

  “Hi,” Rossalyn smiled brightly, placing her items on the counter. “I had to feed my sugar craving,” she pointed at the peanut butter cups.

  “Oh, you know what? We have all of our leftover Halloween candy on sale, so if you want the pumpkin-shaped peanut butter cups, which are better because there’s more peanut butter, you can get them for half price,” she confided.

  “That’s perfect, I love the pumpkin-shaped ones,” Rossie exclaimed. That wasn’t a lie, the holiday ones were always better than the original kind.

  “Let me go grab you a bag,” Abbey offered, hopping down from her stool. She disappeared and came back moments later with two bags. “I got two. If you don’t want ’em both, I’ll take one,” she giggled.

  “You can have it. If I buy both I’ll get too much of a head start on my holiday insulation,” she patt
ed her stomach, which was taut and flat. Abbey looked at her skeptically, but put the second bag behind the counter.

  “Hey, you’re Dana’s friend, right?” she asked, her face sympathetic.

  “Yeah, how’d you know that?” Abbey gave her a puzzled half smile.

  “I’m friends with her mom. Such a sad thing. I know she always used to complain about what’s-his-name, the guy that followed her like a lost puppy.”

  “More like a lost anaconda,” she grimaced. “I think he’s dangerous,” she said in a low voice.

  “Wait… you think who’s dangerous?” Rossalyn asked, pretending to be distracted by digging in her purse for a credit card.

  “Jasper, the creepy stalker who wouldn’t leave Dana alone.”

  Rossalyn felt faint, reeling with surprise, but stifled her reaction.

  “Oh, right. Of course. His brother doesn’t seem nearly as bad,” she replied, trying to breathe normally.

  “At least Merle can take no for an answer. I think Dana was too nice to Jasper, he just wouldn’t give up. She should’ve been mean to him. Wouldn’t be surprised if he was the one that… you know,” Abbey said sadly.

  Rossalyn managed to endure wrapping up the transaction without giving in to a panic attack. Adrenaline jangled her nerves like she’d had a shot of lightning injected directly into her veins. She picked up her phone to call Morgan, and it rang in her hand. Morgan.

  “I think I know who killed Dana,” she blurted, not even bothering to say hello.

  “I have some results back from the lab that are pretty interesting too, are you at the café?”

  “No, but I will be in about ten minutes.”

  “Great, I’ll meet you there.”

  “But I…” she began, but it was too late, he’d already hung up.

  Rossalyn drove back to Hawg Heaven, forcing herself to keep her speed within the legal limit, which was a herculean task under the circumstances, but she managed, and was thankful to see that Morgan was already there.

  “What did you find out?” she asked, breathlessly, practically jumping out of the SUV.

  “The bloodstain on the jeans fibers that we found on the barbed wire showed DNA that was consistent with that of Jasper Willis. Now, that alone wouldn’t be enough to prove anything, but when I sent a unit over to his house, they performed a search and found the pair of jeans with a tear, and some bloodstains.”

  Rossalyn frowned. “But that doesn’t prove anything other than the fact that the fibers came from his jeans.”

  “Well, if it had just been his blood on the jeans, that would be true, but the tear with his blood was up high, on the thigh. Down lower, near the hem, were more blood stains, and they came from the victim. There was also a smear of rust and flaked paint across the jeans that was consistent with the murder weapon.”

  “What was the murder weapon?”

  “A pipe wrench.”

  “Ouch,” Rossie winced.

  “Yeah, it wasn’t pretty.”

  “So Jasper is the killer,” she shuddered.

  “Looks like it. So what were you going to tell me when you called?”

  “That I had just spoken with Abbey at the Mini-Mart, and she said that Jasper had been stalking Dana for quite some time.”

  “Doing my job for me, huh?”

  “No thank you,” she sighed and wrapped her arms around her midsection. “I’m just really relieved that none of my employees are killers.”

  “That you know of.”

  “Touché.”

  “Miss Rossalyn, Miss Rossalyn…” José came running out into the parking lot.

  “José, what is it? What’s wrong?”

  “Mr. Tom is in jail.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  * * *

  “Lemme outta here. I’ll kill him, I swear, I’ll kill him.”

  Rossalyn heard Tom Hundman’s roars before she ever saw him. She also heard a metallic clanging which led her to believe that he was rattling the sturdy iron bars of the holding cell rather dramatically. She had just bailed him out and was following the deputy who was going to release him. They had told her that if she couldn’t calm him down, they’d consider him to be too much of a danger to society and wouldn’t release him.

  When Tom caught sight of Rossalyn, he stopped bellowing and glowered at the deputy, his chest heaving.

  “Tom, I posted your bail, but they’re not going to let you out unless you can calm down a bit,” Rossie said quietly, holding his gaze.

  His eyes were those of a man who appeared to be both in tremendous pain and gripped by white-hot fury. He nodded curtly, his jaws clamped shut.

  “I think he’ll be okay now,” she told the guard, having serious doubts about the truth of her statement. The caged man looked as though he’d take any opportunity to tear something, or someone, apart.

  The deputy unlocked the cell, slid the door back and stepped quickly away, placing Rossalyn strategically between himself and his former captive. Tom glared at him and strode from the holding area like a man on a mission. Neither of them spoke until they were outside, in front of Rossie’s SUV.

  “Thanks,” Tom said gruffly.

  “No problem. Want to tell me about it? What were you in for?”

  “Trespassing and destruction of property. Mayhem.”

  “Mayhem? Is that a thing?”

  “Yeah, it’s a thing.”

  “Why were you causing mayhem, and with whom?” she asked softly.

  “I went over to that sorry little…” he stopped himself and took a breath. “I was at the Willis house.”

  “As in Sheriff Willis?” Rossalyn’s eyes grew round.

  “No, that’s who busted me, him and four of his beefiest deputies, but I was at Jasper and Merle’s house.”

  “Why were you there?” Rossie asked, with a sudden sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach.

  “Because I was going to kill that worthless piece of…”

  “Who?” she interrupted. “Who were you going to kill, and why?”

  “Jasper,” he snarled the name as though it tasted bad in his mouth. “Because that sick freak killed my daughter,” Tom’s voice shook and his eyes grew moist.

  Rossalyn gasped and her hands covered her mouth. “Your…”

  Tom nodded, a single tear rolling down his cheek and disappearing into the thickness of his beard. “My baby girl, my little Dana. Since my mama died, she was all I had in this world,” his voice broke and he couldn’t go on.

  The devastated man placed a hand over his eyes and drew in a shuddering breath, shaking his head. “I had lunch with her, we did that every week, and the sick pukes around here thought I was a pervert. Thought I was trying to date her. That was the last time I saw her. She got mustard on her sweater and hoped that it wouldn’t stain.”

  “Oh Tom,” she whispered, gripping his arm. “I’m so sorry. So very sorry.” Rossalyn had no idea that her own face was wet with tears as well.

  He nodded his thanks and swiped the back of one hand across his eyes, taking in deep breaths to try to regain control. The two of them stood silent for a few minutes.

  “I thought it might be that gay kid at first. He was being pretty nasty to her for a while, but he don’t have that in him. He just don’t,” Tom shook his head.

  “You knew that Jason was gay?”

  “Course I knew. Dana told me everything about her life.”

  “Did Jason know that you knew?”

  “Doubt it. He didn’t know I was her daddy. No one did.”

  “Why?”

  “Her mama didn’t want no one to know. I didn’t even know until I was leaving for Iraq. Margaret thought I might die, so she told me about her.”

  “So, you only knew her for a short time. Oh Tom, I’m so sorry.”

  “I did my own digging around after they found her. Found out a few things here and there. It wasn’t too hard to put together. When I went looking for Jasper, the cops had been there before me, so I knew it was him. I to
re the place apart because I couldn’t tear him apart. Couldn’t even accuse him to his face.”

  “Why not?”

  “Cuz he was gone. Dang coward up and took off. He better hope that he don’t show his face around here again,” Tom growled. “I don’t suppose I could get a ride?” he asked, trying to rein in his anger.

  “Of course, come on. Do you want to come to the café and get some food?”

  “Nah, just take me home.”

  “Are you going to be okay?”

  “Not for a long time,” he gritted his teeth. “Not til justice is served.”

  Rossalyn’s text tone chimed as she climbed into the driver’s seat. It was a message from Morgan.

  Fingerprints on the rock from your living room belonged to Jasper Willis. Willis is officially a fugitive, be careful.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  * * *

  Rossalyn dropped Tom off at his house, with strict instructions to text her if he needed anything. She’d bring him some leftovers tonight after closing, whether he wanted them or not. When she entered Hawg Heaven in the middle of the dinner rush, she was surprised to see everything running like clockwork. José had called in reinforcements. Both of his sisters greeted her with warm smiles when she came in, one was manning the cash register, the other was behind the counter serving, José was cooking, and when she walked back into the kitchen, his mother was loading the dishwasher.