Sugar Cookies and Murder Read online

  Chapter 3

  “So, what did you think of Robert?” Echo asked Missy, as the two of them frosted cupcakes.

  “I think he handled the whole incident with Carla pretty gracefully,” she shook her head, remembering. “I don’t know though, he seems to be very focused on money and achievement,” she shrugged.

  “He’s very sweet. When we got in the limo last night, he insisted that the driver take me home first, even though his hotel was closer. Too bad he lives in New York,” Echo mused.

  “Are you interested in him?” Missy was surprised. Last she knew, her friend had given up on the thought of being involved with anyone.

  “Maybe. Who knows?” she surveyed the cupcake that she had frosted, determined that it looked good, and moved on to the next. “Have you heard from Carla?” she grimaced when she said that name.

  “No. She usually goes quiet for a few days after she commits an embarrassing faux pas,” Missy replied realistically. “I’m really sorry that happened. She’d been sober for months, so I figured she’d be okay.”

  “She needs rehab,” Echo replied, the rest of her thought interrupted by the front bell jangling.

  “I’ll get it,” she said, putting down her cupcake and frosting bag and wiping her hands on a kitchen towel.

  “Delivery for Echo Willis,” the driver of the florist’s van announced when she appeared in the front of the shop. He held an elaborate holiday arrangement of evergreen boughs, holly, roses and exotic white flowers that smelled heavenly and had to have cost a fortune.

  “I’m Echo,” she said, wondering who had sent the beautiful arrangement. She signed for the flowers and put them on the front counter, plucking the card from its plastic pitchfork.

  “Oh my!” Missy exclaimed, coming out of the kitchen. “Who sent these?” she asked, burying her nose in a rose and inhaling deeply. “I bet it’s Carla, as an apology.”

  “Doubtful,” her friend made a face and opened the card.

  “Awww…” she said, blushing when she read the card.

  “Well, judging by that reaction, it certainly wasn’t Carla,” Missy teased. “Kel?”

  “No. Robert,” Echo said, shocked.

  “Really? What did he say?” she asked, touching the soft petals of the flowers.

  “He said that, even with whiskey dripping down my dress, I was still the most beautiful woman in the room, and he thanked me for a lovely evening,” she replied in a hushed voice.

  “Hmm…looks like the attraction is mutual.”

  “He’s too old for me,” Echo shook her head.

  “Weren’t you the one who told me that age is just a number?” Missy challenged.

  “Well, yes, but…”

  “Well, then, call or text to thank him, and when he asks you to dinner…go.”

  Echo looked at her strangely. “How do you know he’ll ask me to dinner?”

  “Because they always do after they send flowers,” Missy chuckled.

  “But he’s Kel’s client…”

  “Right, he’s Kel’s client, not yours. Go out, have a good time. He’s only going to be here for a few days, you might as well enjoy his company, right?” she suggested reasonably.

  “Yeah, I guess there’s no harm in that,” Echo agreed, reaching for her phone.

  “Oh wow,” she said, looking at her messages.

  “What?” Missy asked, curious at her expression.

  “Carla texted me some pretty nasty stuff last night.”

  “Well, she was incredibly drunk.”

  “Yeah, but she’s never made a point to contact me before this, other than to set up appointments for her clients to look at Kel’s work.”

  “Just ignore those messages. I’m sure she’ll be embarrassed when she wakes up and sees what she sent.”

  Echo shook her head, frowning. “I don’t think so…she just sent another one.”

  **

  Echo flopped down onto her couch when she got home, exhausted after a very long day. She and Missy had baked several dozen cupcakes for a City Hall holiday party, and, after leaving the cupcake shop, the gallery had been buzzing with interested collectors. Too tired to cook anything elaborate for dinner, she set a skillet on the stove and turned on the heat, grabbing a frozen veggie burger. She put the patty into the pan, the sizzling of it making her stomach growl. Chopping some romaine and arugula into a bowl, she prepared a salad while her burger cooked.

  Hearing a noise that she couldn’t identify, Echo put down her knife, took the pan off of the burner to stop the sizzling and cocked her head, listening. Not hearing it again, she returned her burger to the burner and resumed making her salad. Drizzling dressing over the leaves in her bowl, putting the burger on a plate, and opening a dark beer, she took her light dinner to the living room, switched on the TV, and enjoyed the peace and quiet of her cozy cottage.

  Taking her dishes to the kitchen during a commercial, Echo shivered a bit as she passed the hallway that led to her bedroom, wondering at the temperature change. The weather on this part of the Gulf Coast never got actually frigid, but it had been chilly enough during the past few evenings that she had specifically closed her windows around noon every day, in order to keep the house warm without the assistance of a heater.

  She put her dishes in the dishwasher and headed down the hall to see if she had forgotten to close a bedroom window. When she flipped on the light in her room, Echo was horrified. Everything from her closet and drawers had been dumped onto the floor, and the green dress that she’d forgotten to take to the cleaners had been torn to pieces which were then strewn on her bed. Strangely, her jewelry was left untouched, and only a few items of clothing, which might actually be sitting in the laundry room, seemed to be missing. The mirror over her mid-century modern dresser had been smashed, with shards of glass littering the top of the retro piece. The screen of her open window had been slashed, the night air causing her gauzy curtains to billow like sails into the room.

  Chapter 4

  “It had to have been Carla,” Echo insisted at coffee the next morning.

  “Sweetie, I know you and Carla have had your issues, but I really can’t see her doing something destructive like that,” Missy said gently.

  “Well, we’ll find out soon enough, I suppose. Chas said that they were able to find some fingerprints, and that there was a trace of blood on one of the broken mirror pieces.”

  “It’s strange that nothing was missing,” Kel remarked.

  “Some of my clothes seem to be.”

  “Which is stranger still. Your electronics, jewelry and art were untouched, but the intruder took your clothing, that’s unusual,” the artist mused. “And a bit disturbing.”

  Echo nodded. “Yeah, I have to admit, when I was thinking about who might have done it if it wasn’t Carla, my creepy neighbor came to mind.”

  “You’re welcome to stay with me for a few days if you’re worried about it,” Missy offered, squeezing her friend’s shoulder.

  “Thanks, but I think I’ll be okay. I’ll just be way more cautious,” she shuddered. “I think that whoever it was, was actually in the house when I got home. I heard a noise, but just passed it off because I was tired and cooking dinner. It may have been the intruder leaving.”

  “That’s scary,” Missy’s eyes went wide.

  “That’s unacceptable,” Kel said grimly. “It seems like you might not be safe going back there until someone is caught and prosecuted.”

  “I’ll be fine,” Echo replied. “Chas and his guys checked everything out thoroughly, and he’s going to be questioning Carla today.”

  Kel stood to go, taking an extra Cocoa Mocha cupcake with him. “I’ll be at the gallery all day, call me if you hear anything or need anything,” he said, heading for the door.

  “I will. I’ll see you around 1:00,” she promised.

  “Take as much time as you need. My primary concern is your safety, dearest,” her boss said, closing the door behind him.

  Echo and Miss
y were busy for the next hour with the morning rush at the cupcake shop, and Echo had no choice but to ignore the buzzing of her phone in her pocket. By the time that the last customer of the morning had gone and she was able to look at her messages, she found one from Robert, asking her to dinner, just like Missy said he would, and one from Kel, letting her know that there had been an incident at the gallery. Letting Missy know that something was up, and promising to call her with details, Echo ran from the shop, heading for the gallery.

  **

  The contents of her desk were strewn about on the floor, there was wet glue covering the seat of her chair, and her potted plants had been ripped to shreds. Echo’s office was a mess, and again, nothing was missing except a tube of lip balm and a fossil paperweight. Thankfully, her computer and office equipment were untouched, as were her files. Nothing had been stolen from the gallery, and Kel’s office and studio hadn’t been touched. Detective Chas Beckett was on the scene, along with a forensics team and other officers who combed the immediate area, looking for evidence of vandalism.

  “I hate to say it, Echo, but this is clearly personal. This gallery is filled with pricey works of art, and client lists that contain personal information of some very wealthy people, yet, none of those things were disturbed in the least. Any idea who might be angry with you?” he asked.

  “I still say it’s Carla, Chas. Doesn’t it seem a bit too coincidental that all of these things are happening immediately following a very public argument?”

  “It does seem to add up,” Chas admitted. “But we won’t know for a few days yet. In the meantime, please be careful. If this isn’t Carla, someone is trying pretty hard to send you a rather dramatic message.”

  “I just have no idea who it might be if it’s not her,” Echo shook her head.

  “Well, I’m certainly going to try my best to find out,” the detective promised his wife’s best friend.

  **

  “So, how are you holding up?” Robert Crump asked Echo, after she had related her story of the past couple of days following the party.

  The two were at an exclusive seafood restaurant on the end of a teakwood pier, the ocean swirling under their feet, visible through a thick glass floor. Robert had made advance arrangements with the chef to provide a selection of gourmet vegan foods for Echo, and she was enjoying some of the best food she’d ever had.

  “I’m fine,” Echo shrugged. “Just waiting on Chas to confirm that Carla is trying to mess with me. Maybe going to jail will help her get the help that she needs.”

  “What if it isn’t her?” Crump asked, spooning up a decadent bite of potato and leek soup.

  “If it isn’t her, the only person that I think it could be is my perverted next door neighbor,” she sighed. “I removed the bushes from underneath my bedroom window, because he used them once to peek inside. He might be mad about that. He also sits on his side porch, smoking cigarettes and staring at my house.”

  “Well, as annoying as that may be, it’s hardly a crime. Isn’t it a bit of a leap to go from keeping an eye on you to breaking in and vandalizing your things?” Robert proposed, tearing off a piece of his roll.

  “Maybe. But if it’s not him and it’s not Carla, I don’t know who would do such a thing,” she shook her head.

  “Any enemies?”

  “Nope, not that I can think of. I haven’t been down here long enough to have made enemies, other than Carla.”

  “Any disgruntled family members?”

  “No, thankfully. You sound like Chas,” she teased.

  “Sorry, just concerned and trying to think through things logically. I mean…for all you know, there could be some sicko out there watching your every move. That has to be at least a bit disconcerting for you. I think that would keep me awake at night,” he commented.

  “Well, I guess we’ll see. I slept just fine last night, but tonight may be different,” Echo sighed.

  “Well, on to more pleasant topics…I’ve decided to purchase Kel’s entire “Phoenix” collection, and am going to commission him to create more pieces to supplement it,” Robert announced, much to Echo’s delight.

  The rest of the evening passed with lots of laughter and conversation, just what the gallery manager needed to take her mind off of what had happened. Robert’s limo took her home, and he insisted upon walking her inside and verifying that there had been no further break-ins or trouble, taking a long look at her neighbor’s house on the way in. After having consumed three glasses of wine, Echo was feeling a bit tipsy, and when the collector attempted to kiss her before saying goodbye, she turned her head to present her cheek and stumbled, falling against him.

  “Oh my goodness, Robert, I’m so sorry. Here I am talking about Carla because of the way that she acted, and now I’m the one stumbling around,” she put her hands against his chest to steady herself, then dropped them and backed away.

  “No worries, you’re utterly charming, don’t compare yourself to her,” the collector replied, his hands on her shoulders. She smiled and tried to back away, but he held her firmly in place, staring into her eyes.

  “Goodnight Echo,” he said softly, kissing her forehead.

  “Goodnight Robert,” she murmured, feeling uncharacteristically uneasy. The wine and the strangeness of the last two days had gotten to her. She watched Robert Crump close the front door behind him, and stood alone in the darkness, swaying slightly until the limo drove away. She turned to make her way to the bedroom and fell into a dead faint.

  **

  Peering down at the little yellow cottage, someone stood, silent in the shadows, breathing shallowly, attuned to the sounds and stillness of night, watching, waiting.

  Chapter 5

  Echo woke up the morning after her date with a dry mouth and a throbbing head. She couldn’t even remember having gone to bed, and wasn’t surprised to find that she was still wearing the dress that she’d had on the night before. There was a nasty bruise on her forehead, and the world swam a bit when she sat up. Disgusted with herself for drinking way too much, she made her way to the kitchen and felt her heart skip a beat when she saw her front door ajar. Silent tears slipped down her cheeks as she looked anxiously around to see if she was alone.

  Moving slowly and methodically from room to room, when she determined that she was the only one in the house, she shut the front door and locked it, checking the back door and all of the windows as well. Realizing that she didn’t have the strength to make it through the work day, for the first time in a very long time, Echo called in sick. Missy and Kel were both worried about her, and she knew that her friends would probably come over bearing food and goodies, but at the moment, all she wanted to do was sleep. Padding back down the hall to her room, she slipped into soft cotton pajamas, crawled under the covers and went back to sleep.

  **

  “I don’t know why, but I really just don’t think that Carla would do this,” Missy told Kel, after Echo had called them both, letting them know that she didn’t feel well.

  “Carla can be vindictive, but I find in difficult to believe that she would go so far as to commit vandalism,” Kel agreed.

  “Chas says that she doesn’t have a good alibi, she was just at home by herself, but he’s still waiting for the lab results to come in before he draws any conclusions one way or the other.”

  “Didn’t you say that Echo’s ex-boyfriend kept company with some rather unsavory types when she lived in California the first time?” the artist asked.

  “Yes, but he’s in jail now, so he can’t be the one doing these things.”

  “Perhaps not, but he might just know someone on the outside who is perfectly willing to harass his very attractive ex-girlfriend on his behalf.”

  “I suppose it’s possible,” Missy said slowly.

  “If you give me the miscreant’s name, I can do an internet search and try to determine if anyone with whom he associated might be living in Florida, and we can go from there,” Kel offered.

  “It
’s worth a try,” she nodded.

  **

  Echo Willis’s cottage was located between two modest homes. One belonged to her neighbor, Steve, the creepy man who smoked cigarettes on his side porch, the other was vacant, and had been for a very long time. The vacant home provided an excellent perspective to the one watching Echo’s house. During the day, they could crouch low inside the storage shed, which gave them a direct sightline into Echo’s kitchen. At night, there was an attic space over the garage that wasn’t big enough to stand in, but provided good enough cover for someone who was willing to lie on their stomach, watching and waiting.

  Chapter 6

  Spencer Bengal, Marine veteran, was in the kitchen of the Inn with Maggie, after having helped serve breakfast to a handful of guests, when he overheard Missy and Chas discussing the events that had happened to Echo.

  “The evidence doesn’t indicate that Carla had anything to do with this. We ran the prints, and there’s no match,” he heard Detective Chas Beckett say.

  “But if it wasn’t Carla, then who?” Missy asked.

  “No idea, we’re back to square one. No suspects, no matches for the prints, no communication of any kind from the intruder. We’ll be keeping an eye on Carla, but it’s a long shot. See if you can have a conversation with her and get her to talk. Be careful though, she’s fallen off the wagon in a major way.”

  The Marine thought for a moment, then headed for the back door.

  “Maggie, I’m going out for a bit, do you need anything?”

  “Nope, all good here,” the innkeeper replied cheerfully.

  Spencer drove a couple of hours into dense Florida swampland, bringing his car to a stop on a dirt road that ended in the middle of nowhere. He strode through the grass, shrubs and palmettos toward an isolated cabin, keeping careful watch for dangerous wildlife. When he reached the cabin, he sat back on the porch and waited. It was only a matter of moments before a man named Janssen appeared, seemingly out of nowhere.