Cookie Dough Killer Read online

  “What makes you say that?” Chas asked.

  “It came out during the trial that he thought his mother had set him up. Turns out she didn’t approve of the chick that he was seeing and wanted him to break up with her. He refused, so he went down for the crime. He lost his spot at some fancy Ivy League school, and now he’s just a regular working joe. The court felt sorry for him, so he got probation rather than having to do time.”

  “Is that it?” Chas asked, deep in thought.

  “I mean, there’s more…it’s just all kind of soap opera stuff, like I said,” Ringo shrugged.

  “Go on,” Chas encouraged, his fingers tented under his chin.

  “So, the dude’s mom is rich…not as rich as you, but still up there way higher than the rest of us mere mortals,” Ringo snickered at his own lame joke.

  “And?” Spencer prompted.

  “And she cut the dude out of her will. Cut him off from the family…won’t even talk to him.”

  “Why?” Chas asked.

  “Because he married the chick.”

  “So, he was accused of possession with intent because his mother didn’t want him to be with Kendra?” Chas confirmed.

  “Yup, and now his wife runs a daycare center.”

  “What does Brantworth do?” Spencer asked.

  “Works as a kitchen manager at the yacht club, where his mama and her foo-foo friends hang out. If you ask me, I think he got a job there on purpose, just to make her squirm,” Ringo chuckled. “He also volunteers at the homeless shelter. I don’t think that’s one of his mother’s favorite charities.”

  “Good work,” Chas nodded. “What else do we know about the mother?”

  “Name’s Allivia Dunham. She’s all over the society pages. Works as some kinda agent to the stars. Lots of people know her, but I don’t think many of them like her.”

  “Why is her name Dunham, and her son’s name Henderson?” Spencer frowned.

  “She made him drop the family name when she disowned him, so he took his wife’s name.”

  “How does his wife’s family feel about him? Did you find anything on that?” Chas asked.

  “Nope, I can keep digging if you want me to, but they’re pretty low-profile, regular working folks, so I doubt I’ll find much in the archives about them,” Ringo offered.

  Chas drummed his fingers on the desk in front of him, brooding.

  “No, I think we have enough for now. Thanks Ringo.”

  “No problem. If you don’t need anything else, I think I’ll take a nap,” the hacker stood and yawned.

  “At home?” Spencer gave him a pointed look. The young genius had a habit of sleeping in the control room.

  “Geez, man…you trying to get rid of me?” he smirked.

  At Spencer’s baleful stare, he sobered.

  “Yeah, I gotta get home. My cat’s probably out of food, and I don’t want him to try to get into the iguana’s cage again,” Ringo sighed. “Catch you dudes later,” he waved and headed for the door.

  “Now what?” Spencer asked, when Ringo was out of earshot.

  Chas shook his head.

  “Now, I’ll have to explain this to Missy in a manner that doesn’t cause her to have a meltdown,” he admitted.

  “Well, the good news is that Kendra seems to be perfectly fine from a legal standpoint,” Spencer commented.

  “Yes, but I don’t know how Missy will feel about the drama surrounding her husband. Any luck on finding some temporary help for a few months?” Chas asked, changing the subject.

  “Yeah, I have someone I’ll be talking to tomorrow.”

  “Good,” Chas nodded. “One less thing to worry about.”

  CHAPTER FIVE

  * * *

  “Good evening, my beloved,” Phillip “Kel” Kellerman breezed into Echo’s home office and planted a kiss in her wild tangle of red curls. “What lovely project are you working on?” he asked, peering over her shoulder at the design board in front of her.

  “The designs for the Children’s Home Gala,” she announced, clearly excited about the idea.

  Kel looked at her with surprise.

  “I didn’t know that you had been drafted for that particular project.”

  “Well, I’m just a worker bee. Blaze Sutton is doing the actual design,” she informed him with a smile.

  “He’s quite talented,” Kel nodded his approval. “Since when does he work with an assistant?” he probed.

  “Since Allivia Dunham got mad that the committee selected him. I believe that I was chosen to be a watchdog,” she giggled at the absurdity of it all.

  “Sounds ruff,” her husband quipped, kissing her cheek. “Are you sure that you want to participate in all of this local drama and intrigue?” he asked, sobering.

  “I think it’ll be fine, honestly. Blaze was really nice when I met him, and I think he’ll do a great job.”

  “Is it in his best interest to do a great job?” Kel asked, eyebrows raised.

  Echo sighed. “I sure hope so.”

  Just as Kel opened his mouth to respond, her phone buzzed, and Missy’s photo appeared on the screen.

  “You take that, and I’ll go hug our darling girl,” he brushed her lips with a kiss and left the office.”

  “Hey girlie,” Echo answered the phone. “How are you feeling?”

  Missy spoke for several minutes, and with every word, Echo’s face became more serious.

  “Are you sure?” Echo bit her lip. “Okay. I’m glad you told me. I’ll talk to Kel and see what he thinks. Okay love, get some rest…I’ll talk to you soon,” she promised, hanging up.

  **

  Spencer knew that he didn’t have to make arrangements to meet his former team member, Janssen would find him – he always did. There was a six-pack of microbrews chilling in the fridge in anticipation of his arrival. They’d served together in Afghanistan and in other places that they weren’t allowed to acknowledge, and had saved each other’s lives more times than either could count.

  Spencer lived in a former caretaker’s home that was built on the far back border of Missy and Chas’ estate, and he’d left the porch light on, waiting. He didn’t have to wait long. Shortly after he’d cleared the dishes from his dinner and started the dishwasher, Janssen arrived, slipping up to the door as silently as a ghost. He was in the house with a beer in his hand before his colleague was aware of his presence.

  “You know, sneaking up on me like that could seriously shorten your life span,” Spencer grumbled, deftly catching the bottle of beer that Janssen chucked in his direction.

  “Your hospitality is overwhelming,” Janssen commented, taking a long draw on his beer. “So, tell me why I’m here.” The Marine wasn’t one for long-winded conversation, no matter how glad he was to see his buddy, so he got right to the point.

  “Yeah, it’s good to see you too,” Spencer chuckled. “Come sit,” he headed for the living room, knowing Janssen would follow.

  He looked the same as he always did, as though he’d just crawled out of a risky situation. His hair was long and wild, his clothes were worn, but clean, and his eyes had already scanned Spencer’s place for potential hazards, exits, and points of defense, should they come under attack.

  “So, what’s up?” he asked, more relaxed once he sank into an overstuffed leather chair.

  “You know that I work for Chas in his private investigation agency,” Spencer began.

  “Yeah, seems like a good gig,” Janssen nodded, holding his bottle by the neck and perching it on his thigh.

  “It is, or at least, most of the time it is, but right now, I’m in a bit of a bind.”

  Janssen’s eyes focused on his buddy like lasers. “Command?” he asked, his voice barely above a whisper. He looked reflexively at the nearest window.

  “No. They’re done with us,” Spencer reminded him. “They released us from our contract and let us go back to our lives.” He shuddered inwardly, thinking about the government program which had held him and Ja
nssen captive in their service for years. “They won’t be bothering us anymore.”

  “I’ll believe that when I see it,” he growled.

  “What I need has nothing to do with them,” Spencer assured him. “Missy is pregnant, so Chas needs to be at home more, which means I’ll be running the agency. I need someone I can count on to do some of the field work. You’re the best.”

  “I’m not a suit and tie kinda guy,” Janssen drawled. “This scares all the nice folks,” he pointed to a scar which ran from his eyebrow down his cheek.

  “Tell them it’s from a bar fight,” Spencer rolled his eyes. “You don’t have to wear a suit and tie, and you don’t have to do interviews…hopefully. You’ll just be doing some of the investigative work. I could really use your help. You know I wouldn’t call you if I didn’t need you. I’m going to have to watch the Becketts even more closely now that there’s going to be a little Beckett heir on the way,” he pointed out. “I can’t be everywhere at once, and I don’t need Chas to know that I’m stepping up security for him, so I need eyes in the field.”

  Janssen sighed, spinning his bottle between his forefinger and thumb, watching beads of condensation slide down to make dark splotches on his jeans. “For how long?” he asked.

  “I don’t know. While she’s pregnant, and probably for a while afterwards,” Spencer shrugged.

  “You’re talking about more than a year,” Janssen raised an eyebrow.

  “Or longer,” Spencer nodded, pulling no punches. He wanted his buddy to know what he might be getting into.

  “I just got back together with my wife, man,” he shook his head. “She has a restaurant in Illinois. What am I supposed to do with that?”

  “You’d be compensated enough to make up for…” Spencer began.

  “It ain’t the money. You should know by now that it ain’t never about the money. She’s been building a life there for herself and my kid.”

  “How’s it been working out since you’ve been up there?” Spencer asked quietly.

  “Ain’t a picnic,” Janssen mumbled.

  “Yeah?” Spencer knew that the best way to encourage Janssen to talk was to just listen.

  “Yeah. I ain’t been the same since we got back from Afghanistan. I thought I could get past it…thought I could blend in and act like a normal person, but it ain’t working out like that,” he stared down at the last rays of light from the window shining through the amber glass of his bottle.

  “What are you doing up there?” Spencer probed, looking out the window rather than at Janssen.

  “I’ve been fixing things around the house, been trying to help out at the restaurant, but she’s got a system down, so I feel like I’m more in the way than anything else. I don’t exactly have customer service skills,” he grimaced. “I feel like a poser, man. Like I’m playing the part that I’m expected to play and I can’t even do that right.”

  “I hear you,” Spencer nodded, his gaze faraway as he remembered his own transition back to the civilian world. His upbringing had played a huge part in his ability to re-adapt to normal social behavior. Janssen didn’t have that advantage. He’d had it pretty rough as a kid. “How are things with your wife?” He hoped that he hadn’t asked too bluntly, or too soon. The last thing that he needed was for his buddy to clam up and stop talking.

  Janssen shook his head. “I wish I could say it was all sunshine and roses, but it ain’t. When she thought I was dead, she started living her own life, and to tell you the truth, I think she learned that while she might love me, she sure as heck don’t need me. She survives just fine on her own. I still wonder if we might have all been better off if I had just stayed off-grid and let her think I was dead,” he drained his beer, set the bottle down, and Spencer handed him another.

  “I’m sorry, man. That’s gotta be tough.”

  “Yeah.”

  “You think she’d be willing to move up here?”

  “Doubt it. She seems to have really carved a niche for herself in that little town,” Janssen shrugged.

  “But if you were going to be up here…” Spencer led him.

  “I don’t know how much that would matter.”

  It was evident that the bald truth of his statement hurt, way down deep, but the scarred, hardened warrior always faced the truth, rather than giving in to the seductive temptation of hope.

  “Will you consider talking to her about it?” Spencer persisted.

  “Yeah, I’ll talk to her,” Janssen gave a quick nod. “Might be the best thing that happened to both of us if she says no and I move up here anyhow.”

  “You’d do that?”

  “I’ll do whatever I need to do to make her happy,” was the honest reply. “If she’s better off without me, I’ll just be on my way,” a muscle in his cheek twitched as he stared out the window into the setting sun.

  CHAPTER SIX

  * * *

  “Are you going to take Jasmine back to Kendra for daycare?” Missy asked Echo, as the two friends sat at Cupcakes in Paradise before starting their respective work days.

  Echo put down her coffee mug and nodded.

  “Yeah, I think I am. I mean, everyone has skeletons in their closet, and as far as I can tell from the report that Chas made, neither Kendra, nor her husband actually did anything wrong.”

  “But he was arrested for drugs,” Missy whispered, glancing around as though someone might be listening.

  Echo gave her a lopsided grin.

  “Yes, he was…because he had a mother who couldn’t stand his girlfriend. They’re married now. Do you think she would’ve married him if he had actually been a drug dealer? Kendra’s family isn’t wealthy, but none of them even have so much as a parking ticket.”

  “I suppose not,” Missy didn’t sound convinced.

  “Look, Kendra was a girl from the wrong side of the tracks, and just because Brantworth’s mama didn’t want her to be a part of her son’s life doesn’t mean that he actually did anything awful. Allivia just had enough high-powered connections and pushed the issue through.”

  “So, you don’t think any of the drama has an impact on their life?” Missy chewed on her lower lip.

  “No, I really don’t. He has a responsible job that he’s been at for years, he volunteers at a homeless shelter for crying out loud, and you and I both know that Kendra is an absolute sweetheart who is amazing with kids,” Echo reminded her. “You decide what’s going to make you comfortable as far as Kaylee is concerned, but I’m going to be dropping this little one off with Kendra after I leave here,” she looked lovingly down at her daughter, who was sound asleep in her stroller.

  “Chas said essentially the same thing,” Missy admitted, taking a small sip of her water.

  “And I know that you trust his judgment,” Echo gave her a pointed look.

  Missy nodded. “Yep, I do. I suppose if the two most important people in my life are telling me the same thing, they’re probably right.”

  “Glad I could help,” Echo winked. “Are you meeting with Allivia this morning?”

  “Yes, although I don’t know why. Muffy and I have the donations well under control. I don’t know how I’m going to be able to act normally around Allivia now that I know her history. What kind of woman can cut off her own son for following his heart?”

  “Everybody has their flaws,” Echo shrugged. “Allivia likes to micromanage. She couldn’t micromanage her son, so she cut him off. He may be better off without her interference in his life and his marriage, despite the loss of the family fortune.”

  “Maybe so,” Missy murmured, unable to imagine a mother being so cold to her child.

  Their conversation was interrupted by the boisterous entrance of Beulah, who had been keeping Kaylee busy in the small commercial kitchen. She carried the little girl into the eating area, the two of them looking supremely happy. Kaylee wore a paper chef’s hat and had a smudge of flour on her cheek, and Beulah had tiny handprints on her normally spotless apron.

 
“This girl is gonna be a better baker than me, Miss Missy,” the elderly woman beamed. “You mark my words on that,” she squeezed the toddler in a quick hug and Kaylee giggled with joy.

  “Thank you for keeping an eye on her, Beulah,” Missy smiled.

  “We were tearing that kitchen up,” she cackled, leaning her forehead against Kaylee’s.

  The little girl reached up and put a hand on Beulah’s wrinkled cheek.

  “Buwa,” she grinned.

  “That’s right honey,” Beulah nodded, delighted. “You taking her home now?” she asked Missy, balancing the child on her hip.

  “Uh, no. I have an appointment this morning, so she’ll be going back to daycare.”

  Beulah stopped short and stared.

  “You’re still doing that, huh?” her mouth set in a line and she shook her head sadly. “I s’pose it ain’t none of my business,” she muttered, handing Kaylee over.

  “She’ll be fine, Beulah. She likes it there,” Missy snuggled the tot into her lap.

  “Mmmhmm…” the older woman muttered on her way back to the kitchen, disapproval radiating from her.

  Noting that Missy stared after her, Echo jumped in, speaking in a low voice.

  “Don’t you let her old-fashioned suspicions sway you from doing what you need to do for Kaylee. Like you said, she loves it at Kendra’s,” she reminded her friend.

  “I know,” Missy sighed, kissing the top of her daughter’s head. “Why is parenting so tough sometimes?” she asked.

  “I ask myself that question every day,” Echo grinned and stood to go. “Give me a hug, girl. I gotta get going,” she opened her arms.

  Missy and Kaylee gave her a group hug and saw her to the door, then headed out themselves.

  **

  “Do you have a minute?” Missy asked Kendra, who had invited her inside.

  “Sure, let me just get Kaylee settled in with a snack at the table with the others and then we can talk while they eat,” she offered.

  Once the little girl had taken her spot at the low table and was engrossed in her cup of tiny crackers shaped like dinosaurs, Kendra came back to where Missy stood watching the happy youngsters.