Eggnog Murder: A Frosted Love Cozy Mystery - Book 23 (Frosted Love Cozy Mysteries) Read online

  Missy went outside, heading toward the cabana, and could smell the fresh paint before she even turned the corner to find Spencer. The young Marine was nearly finished, and had completed his task to perfection, which was the norm for him.

  “Hey Spence,” his boss greeted him, her typically brilliant smile somewhat dimmed.

  “Hey Mrs. B. Something wrong?” he put his paint roller in the tray and climbed down the ladder with an easy grace.

  “I hope not,” she shrugged. “I’d like to ask you to do something, but I will understand completely if you want to refuse.”

  The dark-haired, muscle-bound young man raised his eyebrows. “Well, you certainly have my attention,” he said carefully.

  “You know the Mitchells…” she began.

  “Yeah,” he said with a strange expression, shaking his head.

  Missy picked up on his reaction and was curious. “What? Did something happen?”

  “Well,” he looked around and lowered his voice so as not to be overheard. “Call me crazy, but I think that it’s probably a bad sign for a couple to be fighting on their honeymoon.”

  “They were fighting? When? What happened?” Missy’s eyes grew wide.

  “When they were on the beach. They fought about everything. She wanted to relax in the shade under the umbrella, he told her to get in the water to get some sun and exercise. She wanted to have some wine and snacks, he told her that it would ruin her lunch and insisted that she only have water and some celery sticks. I don’t know much about relationships, but I think that if I had just married the love of my life, I’d be treating her with a whole lot more love and affection.”

  “That poor girl,” Missy sighed. “As if she didn’t have enough challenges in dealing with that man, her little sister just showed up, and seems to be intent upon crashing their honeymoon. The worst part is that Jeffrey seems to be encouraging it.”

  “So…what would you like me to do?” Spencer asked, crossing his arms over his chest as though preparing for battle.

  “Well, I was hoping that you might be able to distract the sister so that the newlyweds could have more time to themselves,” his boss confided.

  “I’m sure I can come up with some distractions,” the Marine nodded. He enjoyed a challenge, and ladies of all ages seemed to respond well to him. “How long is she staying?”

  “I have no idea. From the way that it looked, Jeffrey would be content to have her stay for the entire honeymoon,” Missy shrugged.

  “You don’t think that they…?”

  “I certainly hope not, Spence. Amber is a lovely young woman, and I can’t help but think that she may have just gotten in way over her head.”

  “Well, I’ll do what I can to help.”

  “Thank you, Spencer. You’re the best,” Missy squeezed his shoulder affectionately.

  “It’s the company I keep ma’am,” he grinned, referring to his relationship with her husband Chas. The two had become close since the veteran had begun working at the Inn, and it was a friendship that was good for both the Marine and the detective.

  Chapter 4

  Spencer Bengal missed very little that went on in the Beach House. His keen powers of observation, alongside an incredible ability to slip in and out of places with stealth, were building blocks of his former military career, and he used them both unconsciously and without effort. He’d just finished a beachside workout, followed by a quick swim in the ocean to cool down. He toweled off his bare chest, arms and legs with a towel he’d left on a lounger and looked out over the water.

  A movement in his peripheral vision caught his attention, and he saw a young woman that looked like Ashlie, walking along the water. Spreading his towel over the back of the lounger to dry, he trotted down the beach, intending to introduce himself.

  “Hi,” Amber looked up and smiled softly when he approached.

  “Oh, hi Amber. I thought you were your sister, and I was going to introduce myself,” he explained, falling into step with her.

  “Yeah, we get that a lot. Sometimes people even ask if we’re twins.”

  “Well then, I’ll know to be on the lookout for someone who looks just like you,” the Marine grinned.

  “That’s where the resemblance ends, I’m afraid,” the young bride said ruefully.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Ashlie is the one that everyone knows and likes. She’s active in the community, athletic, talented…she’s everything that I’m not. I’m the quiet one who likes books and animals and writing poetry rather than going out to parties and waving from the back of a parade float,” Amber shrugged.

  “I like animals and poetry too. I have the coolest cat ever – his name is Moose – and I have a book that no one knows about, full of poems that I wrote when I couldn’t sleep at night in Afghanistan,” Spencer confided, thinking that, of the two, Amber seemed, by far, to be the most interesting.

  Amber finally smiled.

  “What?”

  “It’s just really endearing to think of this big, tough Marine hanging out with his cat,” her eyes sparkled. “Have you ever let anyone read your poems?”

  “Not yet. It’s still too raw, too intense. Sharing them would be like opening up a wound and hoping that it didn’t get infected.”

  “I totally get that. Ashlie found my diary when I was a junior and she was a freshman. She brought it to school with her and showed it to all of her friends because she thought it was funny. Every guy I’d ever had a crush on, and every girl that I ever envied or disliked knew about it by the end of the day. I was horrified,” she shook her head, remembering.

  “I asked my mother to put me in another school, but she refused, because she thought that it would be a chance for me to grow.”

  “And did you?” Spencer asked quietly, drawing his own conclusions about her sister and mother.

  “Grow? Sure…I grew depressed, and isolated, and humiliated. I sat alone in the cafeteria, and couldn’t wait for school to end. I was well into my senior year before anyone would talk to me again,” she shuddered.

  “Well, it looks like things have turned out pretty well for you as an adult. I mean, you’re on your honeymoon, so at least you’re lucky in love, right?” he said, trying to be positive.

  “Well, actually…” she began, her lower lip trembling a bit. She was interrupted by the sudden appearance of her husband.

  “So this is where you disappeared to,” Jeffrey came striding up, looking put out.

  “I just went for a walk and I…” her eyes were wide with what looked like fear as he came and rested his hand in the small of her back.

  “I was hoping I’d run into you both,” Spencer broke in, changing the subject.

  “We have a special tradition that we like to do here at the Inn for our newlyweds. We bring a gourmet, six course meal to your room, so that you can have an intimate, candlelit dinner for two, courtesy of the Beach House. Your food choice will be paired with an appropriate wine selection, and the desserts are out of this world…” he began to elaborate, only to be interrupted by Jeffrey.

  “Maggie already spoke with us about that. I declined. It wouldn’t be very hospitable of us to exclude Ashlie from our dinner plans after she traveled all this way to see her only sister,” he explained with stern finality.

  “Well, I’d be happy to make sure that Ashlie enjoyed an evening out if you’d like,” Spencer offered.

  “We’ve already made other plans, thanks anyway,” Jeffrey didn’t even attempt a smile. “Amber, we need to get ready for the rest of our day, let’s move things along,” he directed, propelling her through the sand toward the Inn.

  “Have a good day,” the Marine called after them, his hawk-like eyes following the couple until they disappeared inside.

  Chapter 5

  Spencer Bengal’s finely attuned hearing picked up the fact that someone was skulking about outside his apartment long before they ever started pounding on his door. He’d been asleep just before he heard the
footsteps, but when his eyes snapped open, he was instantly alert, on his feet and looking out the peephole within seconds. Seeing Jeffrey Mitchell’s angry face on the other side, he scooped up Moose, so that the cat wouldn’t slip outside, and opened the door.

  “Where is she?” Even in the last hours before dawn, the man’s expensively-cut blonde hair was still perfectly in place, and his blue eyes flashed fire.

  “Where is who?” the Marine asked, calm in the face of Jeffrey’s ire.

  “My wife, that’s who,” he uttered with contempt. “You two were awfully chummy yesterday, so I can only assume that she is here with you.”

  “You just got married, and your first assumption is that your new wife is in another man’s apartment?” Spencer’s tone was mildly incredulous. “Did you ever stop to consider that she might be walking on the beach, or taking a swim, or sitting in the hot tub, or hanging out in her sister’s room?”

  “Nice try, GI Joe,” Jeffrey sneered. “But she’s not doing any of those things.”

  “Did you check?” the Marine challenged, ignoring the jibe. He pulled out his phone and began typing so fast that his fingers were a blur.

  “What do you think you’re doing?” the groom demanded, trying to snatch the phone.

  Spencer was much faster and held the phone out of his reach, raising an eyebrow in warning. “I’m calling the police,” he replied, going back to texting.

  “What? Why? There’s no need for that, she’s probably right behind you,” Jeffrey sputtered, standing on tiptoe to see around the mountain of a Marine who stood, blocking the doorway.

  Keeping Moose in a football hold in his left hand, Spencer stepped forward so that he was nose to nose with the blustering man.

  He spoke in a quiet voice, his eyes burning into those of the poser in front of him.

  “Now you listen here, and you listen good. That is the very last time that you’ll be saying anything about any type of involvement between me and your new wife. I don’t have much trouble finding ladies to spend time with, and when I do, they never belong to anyone else. Your wife seems to me to be a fine, upstanding young woman…you’d do well to start treating her like it. Am I making myself fairly clear?”

  Jeffrey Mitchell stepped back involuntarily, his teeth clenched, eyes slitted. He wanted to answer the Marine, but survival instincts overruled his temper and he turned away without another word. Spencer closed his door and set Moose down, stroking the top of his head. Within five minutes, Detective Chas Beckett was at his door, and he related Jeffrey’s concerns.

  “When did he see her last?” Chas asked.

  “I don’t know. He was too busy accusing me of adultery to give me any details,” Spencer muttered.

  “Okay,” the detective nodded. “I’ll go ask him for the story. And Spence, no worries – we know who you are,” he said, offering his hand. Spencer shook it.

  “Thanks. Let me know if you need me.”

  “Will do.”

  Chapter 6

  Detective Chas Beckett sat with Jeffrey Mitchell in the Wedgewood Parlor to interview him regarding his missing wife.

  “So, when did you last see Amber?” the detective asked, pen poised over his notebook.

  “Last night, when we went to bed.” The supposedly grieving husband was quite composed under the circumstances.

  “And what time was that?”

  “Around 11:30, I believe.”

  “Was she under the influence of alcohol?” Chas asked quietly.

  “Under the influence? I don’t know why you’d even ask such a question. What relevance does that have?” Jeffrey demanded, his only show of emotion thus far.

  “It’s a standard question, Mr. Mitchell. When someone disappears, it’s often because they’re not thinking clearly, and have just wandered off somewhere,” he explained as patiently as he could.

  “Now, did your wife have anything to drink prior to her disappearance?”

  “Two glasses of wine at dinner. I make certain that she doesn’t overindulge,” Jeffrey examined his cuticles.

  His answer made Chas pause and diverge from his line of questioning. “And how do you accomplish that, exactly?”

  “I monitor her intake, and when she’s had enough, she drinks water. But I fail to see what that has to do with finding her,” he sighed impatiently.

  Chas made some notes in the margin of his notepad. “What about prescription medications, or recreational drugs?”

  “No, and no. I make sure that she stays healthy and doesn’t introduce chemical substances into her body.”

  “Does Mrs. Mitchell make any decisions on her own?” the detective raised an eyebrow.

  “What are you getting at?” Jeffrey narrowed his eyes.

  “It just seems to me that, as involved as you are in her life, if she was going to do a simple activity like taking a walk, she would have shared that information with you,” Chas observed, studying the man in front of him.

  “Yeah, so?”

  “So, the fact that she didn’t, may suggest that there was foul play involved.”

  “Foul play? That’s ridiculous. No one here knows Amber, so there’s no reason for anyone to hurt her,” he scoffed.

  “Then why are you reporting her missing?” the detective challenged.

  “Because she doesn’t always make good decisions and I’m concerned that she may have done something stupid,” the new husband shot back.

  “Stupid? I see,” Beckett nodded, not taking his eyes off of Jeffrey Mitchell. “I think we’re done here for now, Mr. Mitchell. I’ll be in touch for further questioning if we don’t find her.”

  “Wow, that gives me a lot of confidence in the Calgon Police Department,” Jeffrey’s voice dripped sarcasm.

  “Sometimes folks don’t want to be found,” Chas gave him a pointed look. “I’ll be in touch.”

  **

  “Did your sister give you any indication that she might go for a walk, or take a swim, or anything else when the three of you returned from dinner?” Chas asked Ashlie, after he finished with Jeffrey’s questioning.

  The wide-eyed coed shook her head. “No, in fact, she kept talking about how tired she was. She would’ve fallen asleep in the car if Jeffrey hadn’t nudged her several times.”

  “Nudged her?”

  “Yeah, he has this thing about her sleeping in the car. He tells her that if he has to stay awake to drive, she should stay awake to keep him company.”

  “I see,” Chas nodded. “Tell me, how long did your sister date her husband before they married?”

  “About a year or so.”

  “How would you characterize their relationship?”

  Ashlie shrugged. “I don’t know. Good…I guess. It’s hard to tell because Amber is so quiet, but Jeffrey is such a sweetheart and so much fun.”

  “Does your sister think that Jeffrey is fun?”

  “Well, I would imagine so, I mean, they’re married,” she seemed puzzled by the question.

  “Is your sister accident prone?” the detective asked.

  “She never used to be, but lately it seems like she’s always running into doors and tripping and things like that. Maybe it’s an inner-ear problem.”

  “Possibly. Does Amber have any friends or relatives in the area that you’re aware of?”

  “No. She really doesn’t have many friends at all, and my parents both live in Indiana. Do you think she’s going to be okay, Detective?” the innocent-looking young woman asked.

  “I hope so, Ashlie,” Chas stood to go.

  “Let me know right away when you find her,” she said quietly.

  “I’ll try my best.”

  Chapter 7

  “How on earth could she just disappear from the Inn in the middle of the night like that?” Echo wondered, sipping her morning coffee.

  “Well, after having seen and heard about some of her interactions with her husband, I have my suspicions,” Missy said with a sigh.

  “The spouse is always the
obvious suspect, but not always the culprit,” Kel observed.

  “I just hope she’s okay,” Missy worried. “She’s such a sweet girl, and so young.”

  “How old is she?” Echo asked.

  “Twenty-four, poor girl. She just got married, and now she may be in a dangerous situation.”

  “Well, from the sounds of it, she may have been in a dangerous situation all along.”

  “And her husband looked fresh as a daisy when he was trying to cheer up her sister at breakfast,” Missy reported glumly.

  “Where are they from in Indiana?” Kel asked, popping the remainder of a Strawberry Crème cupcake into his mouth.

  “A little town called Sandston, near the Indiana/Illinois border, why?”

  “Let me cast my nets out a bit and see if I can fry this slippery little fish,” he mused, washing his cupcake down with piping hot coffee.

  “Are you going to Indiana?” Echo asked, knowing she’d need to totally rearrange his gallery schedule if that were the case.

  “If necessary. For now, I’ll content myself with cyber snooping.”

  “Good,” Missy nodded, relieved. “I will too, and we’ll compare notes.”

  After the trio had finished with their coffee and speculation, Kel headed out to work on a sculpture that he was close to completing, Echo cleaned up the dishes and manned the cash register, while Missy went back to her office to try and dig up info on Jeffrey Mitchell.

  The information that she found left her more frustrated than anything. Jeffrey Mitchell was, by all appearances, a model citizen. He had been in a fraternity in college, and after a party was busted, had gone to jail briefly for sexual assault, but all charges had been mysteriously dropped in what sounded like a “boys will be boys” assertion by the university. Aside from that, his record was unblemished, and he participated in charitable events in their hometown, as well as serving as an assistant coach for the local junior high baseball team.

  While she was searching, Missy looked up information on Amber and Ashlie as well. There was nearly nothing to be found on Amber, aside from spelling bee awards and other academic achievement. Ashlie, on the other hand, was mentioned in numerous articles for being homecoming queen, a cheerleader, a volleyball player who had made it to the national team before being beaten out by a future Olympian, and winning the Miss Indiana Scholarship Pageant. There were several photos that showed Jeffrey Mitchell nearby, and Missy could only hope that it was because he was showing his support for Amber’s sister, though Amber was nowhere to be seen.