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I WAS IN SUCH GOOD spirits the next morning, I made Vega French toast slathered in maple syrup and butter, and scrambled eggs. “Hi, Sunshine. How are you doing this morning?”
Vega grumbled something derogatory.
“I’m going to ignore that comment, but don’t repeat it or you won’t get this wonderful breakfast.”
“What is it?” he grumbled.
“A smorgasbord fit for a king.”
“Let me go and I can get my own food,” Vega demanded.
“I thought after last night you’d be in a better mood. I guess not. Now open up so I can get to work.”
“This is America, you can’t keep a person in your basement. It’s not legal!” he shouted.
“And beating your wife is?” I shot back. That shut him up until he was done eating.
“Marjorie?”
“Yes, Vega.”
“I want you to know that I’ve learned my lesson. I will never hurt Kelli again.” He smiled. I think he was trying to look sincere, but he just looked evil.
“Really?” I raised my eyebrows.
“Yes. And I promise to leave town and never come back...” he slurred, the drug taking effect. “You have my word...”
“That would be wonderful, but I don’t think I can trust you.” I patted his hand. “Now, you be a good boy and go to sleep.”
~~~
I PARKED IN THE BACK lot, grabbed my tote, and opened the door to the bakery and then once inside, locked it behind me. There was a bouquet of colorful wildflowers on the counter. The flowers were from Anderson, and the note said, “Have a great day, superwoman.”
What a great way to start the day.
I could hear the lively chatter from the front of the bakery. As I put my tote away, my cell phone rang. It was Anderson. “Hi, there,” I said cheerfully.
“Hi, honey. How is the best pie baker in the state doing?”
My heart skipped a beat when I heard his voice. “Great. And thank you for the lovely flowers, they made my day.”
“I’m glad you like them, but they’re not as pretty as you.” He paused for a moment. “I’m really sorry, but I have some bad news.”
“What? Are you okay?” I sat down hard on one of the stools.
“No. No, it’s not about me. Eloise Snyder was found dead late yesterday.”
“Oh my God. That’s awful. What happened?” I chewed on my bottom lip.
“Her car was found over an embankment near Spring Lake. The authorities are limiting the details on her death until the toxicology reports come back, but I wanted you to hear it from me, not from someone else.”
“Was there another car involved? Was anyone else hurt?”
“No. it was just Eloise. I told Sheriff Bixby that you spoke to her yesterday before she left. He’s trying to put together a timeline of her whereabouts. He’s going to call you.”
“Okay...I didn’t know her very well. Did she have a husband or family in the area?”
“No. The sheriff said she was divorced with two kids in college. That’s all I know right now.”
“Thank you for letting me know.” Eloise wasn’t a nice person, but I hadn’t wanted her to die.
“Do you think you might feel like having dinner with me tonight?” Anderson asked.
“Can I have a raincheck? I’m a little shaken up.”
“You bet. Call me later if you just want to talk,” he said.
“I will. Bye.” I hung up feeling an overwhelming sense of sadness. Her poor kids.
The bakery staff, Suzie, April, and Josephine, all rushed into the backroom as I hung up the phone.
“You are the greatest ever!” They all cheered and hugged me. “We knew you would win the blue ribbon, but Best in Show? You are incredible. The phone hasn’t stopped ringing with new orders,” Suzie squealed in delight.
I took a bow and they giggled. “I couldn’t have done it without you guys. I’m going to take each and every one of you out to lunch. We might not all go at once, but I’ll make sure each of you gets the proper recognition too.”
“That sounds great,” Suzie said. All three gave me one last hug before they went back to work.
~~~
FOR A COUPLE HOURS, I mixed dry and wet ingredients and made at least twenty pies. My cell phone rang as I checked the time left on a tray of blueberry pies in the oven. Without looking at the caller ID I answered. “Hello.”
“Hi, Marjorie. This is Sheriff Bixby.”
“Hi, Sheriff. How are you?” I had gone to school with Bixby’s two sons and his wife. His wife visited the bakery at least once a week. She was secretly addicted to my raspberry chiffon pie.
“Good. Good. Have you heard from Anderson today?” He had always been blunt and straight to the point.
“He called and told me about Eloise Snyder. That’s just terrible news.”
“Yes, it is. Anderson mentioned you talked to Eloise yesterday. Could you come by the office? I have a few questions for you.”
“Sure. When do you want me there?” I was not looking forward to that meeting. Should I mention what Eloise had been up to with the contestants?
“Well... If you could come by in the next hour or so that would be appreciated,” he replied.
“I can be there within thirty minutes. I just have to take my pies out of the oven.” The timer had fifteen minutes left on it.
“My dear wife sure loves those raspberry chiffon pies...” his voice trailed off.
I knew a hint when I heard one. “I’d be happy to bring one to the station. You could surprise her tonight,” I offered.
“That would be splendid. Thank you, Marjorie. You are so thoughtful.”
~~~
I ARRIVED AT THE SHERRIFF’S office a half hour later and walked up to the counter. “Hi, Cora. I’m here to see Sherriff Bixby.
“Hi, Marjorie. Go on back. He’s expecting you.”
“Thanks.”
Bixby was sitting behind his desk. He stood when I popped my head into his office. “Come on in, Marjorie and have a seat. Would you like coffee or a soda?”
“No. Thank you.” I sat down and handed over the box with the pie in it. “Tell Mrs. Bixby I hope she enjoys it.”
“We both will.” He reached for his wallet. “What do I owe you?”
“Its six dollars, but Mrs. Bixby can take care of it when she stops by next time.”
“Wonderful.” He sat down and opened a file on his desk. “Now, Anderson said you talked with Eloise around noon, is that right?”
I nodded and fidgeted with my purse strap. “Yes. That sounds about right.”
“How did she seem? Was she feeling okay?” He looked up from his notes.
“She took a couple pills from her purse and swallowed them. When nothing more came out of her coffee mug, she said she needed a refill and headed in the direction of the parking lot. I might have smelled alcohol on her breath.”
“Interesting... It looks like you were the last one to see her leave.” Sheriff Bixby made another note in the file. He caught me staring at it. “I know. It would save me time just to type the information into a computer, but I’m old school and I don’t want to change my ways. Cora types it up when I’m done.”
“Can you tell me what happened? Anderson didn’t have any details.” I sat forward on the edge of the chair.
“She died from head trauma and had a combination of prescription drugs and alcohol in her system. It was a miracle she didn’t kill someone besides herself before driving off the road.”
“That’s horrible.” My stomach tied in knots. “I should have asked if she was okay. Maybe she would still be alive if I had shown more concern for her well-being.”
“Now, don’t you feel bad for Eloise, that wasn’t her first offense. When she lived in the state of Oregon she ran a red light and hit a young girl crossing the street. Eloise’s blood alcohol level was barely legal. It was her first offense with no jail time, two thousand dollar fine, and one-year license suspension. She got off easy. The little girl wasn’t so lucky, she will never walk again.”
“That poor little girl.”
He leaned forward in his chair. “I have to ask you one more question and as hard as it might be, I want you to be honest with your answer.”
“I will.” I nodded nervously.
“Was Eloise blackmailing you?” He sat perfectly still, waiting for my answer.
I started with Eloise’s message about the recipe and ended with her needing to refill her coffee cup.
“The recipe part jibes with the other statements I’ve collected. Is there anything else you can tell me?”
“No. Nothing...” I thought for a minute. “Is there going to be a service? She wasn’t a very nice person, but she deserves that.”
“Her kids are flying in tonight. They don’t have much time off so I suggested Saint August’s church. I’ve been told she went to services there on occasion. The service is scheduled for the day after tomorrow. It will be short, and I can’t imagine a lot of people showing up. She made a lot of enemies.”
“I agree, but I’ll be there.”
“I’m sure they would appreciate that. The kids will be told about her cause of death, but they don’t need to know what she was up to.”
I nodded and got up to leave. “I think I am going to check in at the bakery and then go home.”
“I wish I could do the same...” Sheriff Bixby closed the file as I left.
~~~
THE BAKERY WAS FULLY staffed, and they had plenty of pies, so I left Suzie in charge and drove home. I cooked a frozen pizza and fed it to Vega. He showered, shaved, dressed and walked in circles while I watched from a safe distance with my stun gun fully charged. He was drossy enough I was confident I could drop him if I needed to.
“My brother, Vance, is getting out of prison real soon. Let me go and we’ll both disappear.”
Taking care of Vega sucked. I would love to get rid of him, but he had been here going on two weeks. It seemed like an impossible task to simply let him go. “What was he in prison for?”
He scowled. “None of your business!” he shouted and kept walking around the room.
“Fine. Your time is up. Get back into the bathroom.” My patience was wearing thin.
He snarled and flexed his hand into a fist.
“So, that’s how it’s going to be.” I stepped toward him and pointed the stun gun at his chest.
After another snarl, he stopped walking. “He was accused of rape. He’s served his time and now he wants to start over. My grandad has a cabin not far from here and he was going to move in there, but I can convince him we need to move somewhere else.”
“Who did he rape?”
He shook his head. “I don’t know, it happened in Colorado. My parents won’t talk about it and neither will he. I guess I don’t want to know. He’s always had a bad temper too. He used to beat the crap out of me when we were kids...”
His speech was slowing, he was finally getting drowsy. “What if he doesn’t want to move away?”
“He told me he has money—hidden money. I’ll threaten to tell my parents—they paid for his defense. I’m sure they would be pissed if they knew he had money and didn’t use it.”
“That make senses, I guess.”
“Will you let me go?” he pleaded.
“Get in the bathroom without a fuss and I’ll think about it.”
“Fine, but I wouldn’t wait too long. When he comes looking for me and I’m missing, he won’t be happy...”
Great. Now I had to worry about Vega’s psychotic, rapist brother.
When he fell asleep, I slowly made my way upstairs. I was hungry, but nothing sounded good, except Anderson. He sounded really good.
I dialed his cell phone and he answered after the first ring.
“Hi there. How are you?”
“I’m okay. Is the dinner offer still open?”
“Absolutely. Where do you want to go? I’m off in about an hour, I can come by and pick you up.”
“I’m not at work. I came home early. Why don’t I pick something up and meet you at your place? Would that be all right?” If he agreed, I knew I wouldn’t be sleeping in my bed tonight.
“My place, huh? I really like the idea of my place. How about five o’clock?” Anderson asked.
“I’ll be there, but I might want dessert before dinner. You being dessert.” I used my most sultry tone.
“Oh, I can definitely accommodate you.” He paused and then quickly added, “Make it thirty minutes, I can’t wait an hour.”
We both laughed. “I’ll pick up something we can reheat.”
Oscar was not happy I was leaving, but I opened a can of tuna and forked it into his bowl. As he nibbled at the tasty morsels, I would like to believe he was forgiving all of my shortcomings.
~~~
THIRTY MINUTES LATER, Anderson and I arrived at his house at the same time. Anderson pulled into his driveway and I parked behind him. Anderson's was one of the newer homes built in Petoskey. A two-story with a smaller, tidy front yard with small shrubs dividing his yard from the neighbor’s.
The air was a little chilly when we both got out of our cars. I grabbed my overnight and then the takeout bags filled with pasta, salad, and garlic bread.
Anderson walked over and slid an arm around my waist. “Hi. Welcome to my home.” He kissed my temple, my lips and then gave me a hug that stole my breath away.
Anderson took the bags from my hands and quickly kissed my lips again. “Come on, let’s go inside.” His voice was a deep, seductive rumble.
Once inside his house, he placed the bags on the nearest table, turned my hand over exposing my wrist and placed a strategic kiss at the base of my hand, followed by a nip of his teeth on each fingertip until all five were damp from his tongue. He kissed me again, this time lingering on my mouth. The kiss was deep and stirring and I felt a delicious warmth course through my body.
“I’m going to put the food in the refrigerator. I don’t think we will be getting to it anytime soon, do you?” he asked.
I shook my head and giggled. “No. Not anytime soon.”
Anderson put the takeout bag in the refrigerator and then brought his mouth down on mine. His hands caressed my face and he smoothed my hair back as he dropped a trail of kisses across my cheek to my ear.
“Come on.” Anderson took my hand and led me to the sofa. He pulled me onto his lap and then kissed me again, wrapping me in his embrace.
“You taste and smell so good.” I nuzzled his warm neck with my nose.
“This sofa isn’t big enough. I think we need to move to the bedroom.” He wiggled his eyebrows up and down. “What do you think?”
I hopped up and offered my hand. “Show me the way.” He stood, picked me up in his arms, and hugged me close to his chest.
~~~
WE EXPLORED EACH OTHER’S bodies until the need between us grew to the point of no return. The first time we came together was fast and all-consuming, the second time was slow and tender.
Anderson traced his finger from my hand, up my arm, neck and ended at my chin. “I’m starving. Do you want to eat in bed or should we get up?” he asked lazily.
I stretched, raising my arms above my head. “I brought pasta with a red sauce so unless you want a big mess, we should get up.”
Anderson dressed me in one of his big comfy shirts that hung to my knees. We ate, talked, and laughed until we both became hungry for dessert. We raced to the bedroom, fell on the bed like two kids, and laughed until our sides hurt. To be thorough, we did a lot more exploring of each other’s bodies, just in case we missed something before.
“You should know, I’m falling hard for you.” Anderson kissed my chin.
“That’s good news. Because I’m falling hard for you too.” We lay entangled in the sheets with my head resting on Anderson’s chest.
No matter what the consequences, it was time to set Vega free.
Anderson’s steady heartbeat was comforting and lulled me to sleep.