She takes off and Taffy hisses, “She looked right at me, Lottie. She can see the dead.”

  “Let’s just pray it’s not a catching condition.”

  Everett, Noah, and I finish up our meal. Larissa brings us a complimentary slice of chocolate cake, and the three of us split it before we head back to Honey Hollow.

  But my mind is reeling with two red-hot questions. Is Larissa Miller supersensual? And worse yet, is she a killer?

  I’m pretty certain she was accepting bribes from Whitney and Patricia.

  But why?

  There’s only one way to find out. And I’m pretty sure Noah and Everett won’t like it.

  Chapter 12

  The snow sifts softly over Honey Hollow, covering the trees, the rooftops, and every inch of the ground in a blanket of white.

  It’s the middle of the afternoon, and the Cutie Pie Bakery and Cakery just finished another rush of tourists, all clamoring for my conversation heart sugar cookies.

  Lily grunts as she refastens her apron, “Can you believe we actually had a request to write RIP Whitney and Patricia on a cookie?”

  I make a face and nod. “People are twisted. Of course, I said no. But we sold out anyway. Good thing I’ve already whipped up a few more batches. I just need the cookies to cool so I can ice them.”

  Lily’s attention strays to where that wall of muscles sits staring at his phone.

  “He’s watching a movie.” Lily sighs. “Every now and again I head on over and spy on him. Are you sure his name is Seven?”

  I shrug. “I told you that’s what Everett said.” Taffy’s comment comes back to me. “I’m betting it’s just a cover. Something tells me he wants to remain an enigma.”

  Lily licks her lips as she scours over him with her gaze.

  “Hey?” A laugh bubbles to my lips. “You’re interested in more than what he’s watching. You think he’s cute, don’t you?”

  “Eh.” She shrugs “He’s all right if you’re into the tall, strong, and silent type. Don’t forget irresistibly good looking. Just think of the things he could do with those big, beefy mitts he calls hands.”

  “All right, all right.” I fan her with a kitchen towel. “Why don’t you take him some sweet treats and see if you can get him to spill all his deep, dark secrets?”

  “Ooh, good idea.” She quickly loads up a plate with a couple of brownie tarts, a mini lava cake, and fudge bottom cupcakes. “I happen to know he’s a chocoholic. Each time I offer him a treat, he only accepts the ones with chocolate.” She takes off just as my mother and Carlotta glide into the shop. And I can’t help but note that Taffy has draped himself over Carlotta’s shoulders once again.

  “Hello, ladies, what can I get the two of you?”

  Mom frowns at the items on the bakery shelf. “Got any love potion lying around? I’m afraid it’s what I’ll have to resort to. Wiley is still keeping me at an arm’s length.”

  Carlotta stretches her lips across her face. “You can thank your daughter for that. Or more to the point, I should thank your daughter for that. Wiley asked me out for drinks later.”

  “Don’t you dare.” Mom wags a finger at her. “Lottie, call off your men. I’ve got my sights set on a Wiley Fox and gosh darn I’m going to nab him, trap him, and strap him to my bed.” She tips her nose my way. “My truth or dare affair is tomorrow night, and I’ll need all the luscious desserts you can give me. Maybe you can ask Noah what kind of desserts his father likes? I’m really hoping we can turn a corner before the big day.”

  Carlotta grunts, “So V-Day is D-Day huh? What are the plans for the naughty night, anyway?”

  Mom sniffs. “Wiley has already agreed to be my date at the Evergreen on Valentine’s Day. It’s just a matter of time that man succumbs to my advances. In fact, I’ve got a couples’ scavenger hunt happening at the B&B on Saturday night, but what Wiley doesn’t know is that we’re the only two participating.”

  Carlotta honks out a laugh. “And I bet that last stop will be in your bedroom.”

  Mom takes in a quick breath. “You really are devious. I’d better make a note.” She takes off for a seat and shakes her purse upside down until a pen and a pad of paper tumble out.

  Carlotta leans in. “So who’s on first? Taffy here says you think a transmundane gal did it.”

  I shoot the supernatural serpent a wry smile. “I didn’t say that. But I think he nailed the transmundane thing. Hey, you don’t think my powers are growing in the wrong direction, do you? Do you think regular people can now see the dead? I had Taffy wrapped around my neck last night just the way you do now.”

  “Here.” She gifts him to me and he happily finds a home over my shoulders. “Hey, Miranda, get a load of this hickey on our baby girl’s neck.”

  “What?” Mom squawks as she clip-clops over. “Where is it? More importantly, who gave you the delicious love bite?”

  I roll my eyes. “That would be Noah. We’re back together, sort of.”

  Carlotta waves her hand up and down Taffy while the salty snake does his best to snap and hiss at my mother.

  Mom makes a face. “Tell him to try harder next time. I don’t see a thing. I bet that judge could give him a few lessons.” She traipses back to the table in an effort to put her purse back together again.

  Carlotta shrugs. “That suspect of yours must be transmundane. And if she’s seeing the dead, she’s supersensual. I say you call her out on it.”

  “I’m not calling her out. I’m investigating her. Noah said she was doing some shady business at both the Sweet Sin Bakery and the Upper Crust Bake Shop two days before the big double homicide. It looks as if both Whitney and Patricia were caught on security footage giving her something. Patricia gave an envelope, and it looked as if Whitney gave her cash.” I got those details out of Noah last night. Let the record show, I have my ways.

  “So what are you going to do about it?”

  “I think I’ll ask the girls running the shops if they noticed they were short on cash that day. And then there’s Crystal Mandrake’s bakery—A Cake Above. I saw Larissa talking to Crystal, too, the day of the murders. I thought I’d dig around a little and see if they’re missing cash as well.”

  “Good luck to you.” She points down at a miniature cherry pie and I quickly accommodate her.

  “Heavens,” Taffy moans. “Don’t waste time feeding Carlotta. You’ve got three bakeries to hit.”

  Carlotta grunts through a bite of cherry pie, “I’m riding shotgun.”

  “We can’t go to Hollyhock, Fallbrook, and Ashford all in one afternoon.” A thought hits me. “I’ll be right back.”

  I head to my office and call both Jodie at Sweet Sin and Ruthie at the Upper Crust Bake Shop and let them know that I discovered a huge deficit on the second of February. I told them it seemed to be a running scam by a seedy customer, and that a lot of businesses were hit that day. Both Jodie and Ruthie said they’d get back to me on it.

  I head out to the front just as Lily comes my way with an ear-to-ear grin on her face.

  “His name is Miles Rock and he’s from Leeds, born and raised.” She practically squeals as she says it. Lily never squeals. This is disconcerting on many levels, but I push all of that aside for a moment.

  “Really? He told you all that?”

  “A little chocolate goes a long way. That and I pulled out all the stops with him.” She wiggles her shoulders. “I had to. Alex has me thinking I’ve lost my touch, but Miles just proved me wrong. We’re going to dinner as soon as I close up the shop. He says that’s when Noah and Everett take over and start watching you.”

  I make a face. “You mean babysitting.” I glance at my phone. “I’m going to run out to Ashford real quick. I’ll be back in time to help you close.”

  “No.” Lily stomps her foot as she whines. “That means Miles has to follow you.”

  “Well, look at it this way. It’ll give him a chance to miss you.”

  “Good thinking! On second thought, take your time.” She checks her face in the framed mirror behind me. “Stay out as long as you need to.”

  I say a quick goodbye to my mother, grab Carlotta, and we’re on our way to Ashford to see my archnemesis in baking—Crystal Mandrake.

  A Cake Above is located in a ritzy part of downtown Ashford sandwiched somewhat between the courthouse and the Ashford Sheriff’s Department.

  “You know”—I say to Carlotta, Taffy, and Princess who has decided to take a break from her feline boy toy, Thirteen—“had I thought it through, I could have opened my bakery right here in Ashford. Not only would I have been a guaranteed thorn in Crystal Mandrake’s side, but I would have been spitting distance from Everett and Noah. Oh, who am I kidding? I’d never get any work done that way.”

  A Cake Above has its exterior windows covered with stickers that boast of all the competitions that Crystal has won. Right above the sign with the store’s moniker there’s a banner that reads voted best bakery in Vermont five years in a row!

  Carlotta shakes her head at the wall of accolades. “At least she’s humble.”

  “I’ll say.”

  Taffy hisses, “Don’t worry, Lottie. I rather enjoy wreaking havoc on those with inflated egos.”

  “I’ll take a hard pass on the offer, Taffy. But thank you for thinking of me.”

  We head on in through the door while Princess and Taffy float their way in through the window and bypass the counter altogether as they head straight into the bakery shelves, and I’m horrified to see them both nibbling away so blatantly for all to see. Princess is quickly dissecting a raspberry filled turnover, and it looks as if a massacre is taking place in front of me.

  A thin redheaded girl comes over. Her nametag reads Bailey, assuring me she’s the girl I met the night of the murders.

  “Can I help you?” A brief smile stretches across her face.

  “Hi, Bailey, we actually met the other night at the community center in Honey Hollow. Is Crystal in?”

  “Oh. No, she’s not. She stepped out for a minute.” Her demeanor shifts on a dime, and she calls for help from the back as a small crowd walks in. Carlotta heads over to the register and begins ordering what sounds like the entire left side of the refrigerated shelves.

  Bailey steps around the counter to talk to me in private.

  She leans in. “Is there something I can help you with?”

  “Actually, yes. It turns out, there was some person or group conning an entire string of bakeries out of hundreds of dollars, and each bakery was hit on the same day, the second of February. Do you think you can check to see if you were hit as well?”

  Bailey blinks back. “We weren’t short.” She shakes her head. “I count out the drawers every night myself, and I happen to know I was working that day because the second is Crystal’s birthday. She has the whole day off. I closed the shop that night.”

  “I guess you would know then.” Sounds like a dead end. But—while I have her attention. “Bailey, did you notice anything strange afoot the night of the murders?”

  She shivers at the mention of it and warms her arms with her hands.

  “You know, I didn’t say this to that detective woman who came snooping around, but I guess I don’t mind telling you.” She steps in close and my mouth falls open because I happen to know she’s referencing Ivy Fairbanks, Noah’s partner.

  “What is it?”

  Both Princess and Taffy zoom over as if they were magnetized to the impending confession.

  Bailey glances to the door. “That woman who was coordinating the event? Larissa Miller?”

  “Yes?” I nod, waiting with bated breath at what she might reveal.

  “I ran into her in the hall behind the kitchen, and I heard her telling someone that she needed to get paid. It sounded like she was shaking them down. Something about making sure they made the payment on time. She was frantic. Her whole body was shaking. I’ve never seen anything like it. It was strange.”

  “That does sound strange.” She needed to get paid? I thought she owed people money. Huh. Probably both.

  “Anyway”—Bailey shrugs—“sorry that your bakery was hit. I’ll double-check with our accountant. I’m pretty good at counting the drawers, but he’s meticulous when it comes to our finances. Nobody cares about this place like Ian—except maybe Crystal.” She shrugs. “Between you and me, she’s got a bit of an ego.” Bailey heads back behind the counter just as a blonde bombshell encrusted in rhinestones breezes in as subtle as a hurricane.

  Crystal shoots a glance my way before doing a double take at the bakery shelf Princess and Taffy all but decimated.

  “What in tarnation is happening with my baked goods?” Crystal shrieks and grips her cotton candy-like hair while having a genuine freak-out over the raspberry carnage that’s taken place. “Lottie Lemon! Are you responsible for this?”

  Carlotta speeds over and grabs me by the arm. “This is our cue to skedaddle.”

  And skedaddle we do.

  All the way back to Honey Hollow.

  But I can’t get my mind off the fact something has Larissa Miller running scared like a little girl. Who could she possibly owe money to and for what? Better yet, who owes her money?

  And Ian’s name came up again. He does the books for Crystal’s bakery, too. Interesting.

  No sooner do I get back to my own bakery than I notice I’ve a missed call from both Jodie and Ruthie. It turns out, both bakeries were short two hundred dollars that day.

  Two hundred dollars? I bet that’s what Larissa was shaking them down for.

  But why?

  Chapter 13

  The best part about ending a long day at work is being able to come home to my sweet cats, kick off my shoes, and cozy up by the fireplace.

  No sooner do I walk through the door to do just that than I spot the flicker of candles. The scent of a pepperoni pizza from Mangias permeates my senses, and Noah Fox stands before me in a flannel and jeans wearing a crooked grin that lets me know he has less than chaste intentions with me.

  Princess floats up next to me and gasps. “Would you look at that? It looks as if we’re both about to have a romantic evening, Lottie. Now, where are my boys? Everett? Noah?” She zips off to the sofa where Pancake and Waffles are sleeping.

  Taffy glides in beside me. “She’s renamed the furballs. I’ll be asleep in the fireplace. I find a strange comfort among the

  flames.” He slithers his way into the roaring fire, and I can’t help but wince at the sight before reverting my attention right back where it should be.

  “Noah Corbin Fox.” I take off my coat and I’m about to toss it to the sofa when Carlotta smacks into it and fights her way through my best winter parka as if it were a punching bag.

  She emerges the victor as she stomps my coat to the ground before looking at the dining room table.

  “Well, lookie here.” Carlotta heads over and takes a seat.

  “Sorry,” I mouth to Noah, and he shrugs it off as if it were no big deal.

  We head over to the table and start in on the extra cheese, extra pep feast.

  “So, Lot Lot,” Carlotta ticks her head my way as she takes another bite—“aren’t you gonna tell the hot to trot fox about our covert operation today?”

  Noah’s eyes widen as he looks my way. “Lottie, tell me you didn’t pursue the case further.”

  Carlotta belts out a laugh. “Have you met her?”

  Noah closes his eyes a second too long, and Carlotta rattles off everything that went down this afternoon in Ashford. She tells him all about Larissa’s reported odd behavior, the fact Sweet Sin and Upper Crust were both short two hundred suspicious dollars the very same day Larissa shook them down, and the fact a certain poltergeist infestation turned Crystal’s bakery shelves into a raspberry flavored bloodbath.

  Noah’s dimples invert as he looks my way. “I don’t know why none of that surprises me.”

  A knock erupts at the door and Carlotta bolts up.

  “Speaking of surprises, I’m about to knock the socks off both you kids.” She makes a mad dash for the door and opens it before pulling in the one person I never thought I’d see in my living room.

  “Wiley?” I stand up just as Noah heads over.

  “Dad? What the hell are you doing here?”

  Wiley Fox looks decidedly dapper in an ill-fitted suit, his hair slicked back, and his dimples digging in deep. With the lights dim and the candles flickering, it really does look as if Noah has just duplicated himself in my living room.

  “Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Wiley holds his fists up playfully as he pulls his son in for a quick embrace. “I’ve got an official invite.”

  “That’s right.” Carlotta slings her arm around his shoulder. “When Wiley invited me out for drinks, I thought what better place than this one? Lottie’s got a kitchen full of liquor just going to waste.”

  “I don’t have any liquor,” I say, speeding my way next to Noah. “I don’t even think I have wine.”

  “Sure you do. You’ve got that fancy Madagascar bourbon, Amaretto, and Grand Marnier.”

  A dull moan comes from me. “Have you been drinking my baking liqueurs? Carlotta, Madagascar bourbon is code for vanilla.”

  “Well, Lottie Da,” Carlotta smarts before smacking Wiley on the stomach. “Told you she was a know-it-all.”

  Wiley gives a wistful shake of the head. “I’ve got one of those myself,” he says, nodding to Noah.

  “Nice,” I say. “If the two of you are done insulting us, we’d like some privacy now.”

  “Fine.” Carlotta tosses a hand in the air like an ornery teenager. “Can’t have the kitchen, then we’ll take the bedroom. Come on, Wiley. I’ve got a stash of tequila in my closet that I’ve been saving for a snowy day.”

  Wiley chuckles as he follows along. “Darlin’, every day in these parts is a snowy day.”

  She takes up his hand. “Now you’re speaking my language.”

 

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