Sweet Suspects (The Donut Mysteries)

  FIRST TIME PUBLISHED!

  Donut Mystery #12

  From New York Times Bestselling Author Jessica Beck

  SWEET SUSPECTS

  SWEET SUSPECTS: Copyright Jessica Beck © 2013

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Recipes included in this book are to be recreated at the reader’s own risk. The author is not responsible for any damage, medical or otherwise, created as a result of reproducing these recipes. It is the responsibility of the reader to ensure that none of the ingredients are detrimental to their health, and the author will not be held liable in any way for any problems that might arise from following the included recipes.

  To Emily!

  Other Books by Jessica Beck

  The Donut Shop Mysteries

  Glazed Murder

  Fatally Frosted

  Sinister Sprinkles

  Evil Éclairs

  Tragic Toppings

  Killer Crullers

  Drop Dead Chocolate

  Powdered Peril

  Illegally Iced

  Deadly Donuts

  Assault and Batter

  Sweet Suspects

  The Classic Diner Mysteries

  A Chili Death

  A Deadly Beef

  A Killer Cake

  A Baked Ham

  A Bad Egg

  A Real Pickle

  The Ghost Cat Cozy Mysteries

  Ghost Cat: Midnight Paws

  Ghost Cat 2: Bid for Midnight

  “If one donut is good, then two must be even better!”

  Sad to admit it, but this one’s from the author!

  Chapter 1

  “Don’t I know you?” the drunken man wearing three different plastic leis asked as he cornered me in the high school gymnasium. Though the place was decorated with crepe paper and streamers for our combined high school reunions, there was no hiding the normal utilitarian function of the space. There wasn’t enough bunting in the world to disguise that. Keeping with the Hawaiian luau theme, a pair of decorative spears held up a colorful banner over the DJ that said Welcome Back, ASHS Students. Some genius had decided to host three class reunions at the same time, and I’d reluctantly agreed to go, even though my boyfriend, State Police Inspector Jake Bishop, was on the Outer Banks up to his hips in another murder. Grace Gauge, my best friend since childhood, had convinced me that it would be fun, but so far, it had taken all that I had not to run out of the building as though it were on fire.

  “Of course you know me,” I said. “Billy Briscoe, we were in most of the same classes all through high school. It’s me, Suzanne Hart.”

  “Sweet little Suzie Q,” he said, slurring a nickname that I would never answer to. “You look great,” he added as he leaned in. His clothes were so heavy with the smell of alcohol that I was amazed he could even still stand.

  “You’re drunk,” I said, lacking any sympathy for the balding man with a middle-age spread that I had once considered cute. Wow, what a difference a few years made.

  “That I am,” he said with a grin. “You wanna sneak away with me into the shadows for a minute or two?”

  “Not even the least little bit,” I said as I spotted Grace walking toward us.

  “Come on. You know you wanna,” he said as he added an overstated wink.

  Grace joined us, smiling. “There you are, Billy. Did you know that Sandy Link has been looking all over the gym for you?”

  That got his attention. Sandy had been the head cheerleader once upon a time, and she’d kept up her appearance to the point where it wouldn’t have surprised me if she’d shown up in her old uniform. It clearly would still fit. “Sandy?” he asked as he started scanning the room. “Where is she?”

  “The last time that I saw her, she was standing over by the men’s restroom,” Grace said.

  Billy started off, abandoning me without a second thought, much to my pleasure. “Grace, what would Sandy want with him?”

  “She doesn’t, as far as I know, but you looked as though you’d had enough of Billy.”

  “Wow, are you taking a chance. Do you remember how bad a temper Billy has? In the old days, he’d go crazy over a lot less.”

  “I’m willing to bet that he won’t remember any of our conversation by morning,” Grace said.

  “Remind me again, Grace. Why did we come here?” I asked as I glanced at the caged clock high on the wall. “You said that this would be fun, remember?”

  “It is,” Grace said with a good-natured smile. “You just need to have the right frame of mind, Suzanne.”

  “Well, I’m giving it five more minutes, and then I’m taking off. I have to get up early tomorrow to make donuts, remember?”

  “I’m not about to forget that,” she said as a handsome fellow interrupted us.

  “Grace? Is that you?” There was a definite gleam in his eyes as he studied her, and Grace returned every ounce of it.

  “Tom Hancock, as I live and breathe. How are you?”

  “Truth be told, I’m single again,” Tom said. “I saw you looking around the gym a minute ago, and if you tell me that you were trying to find me, you’ll make my day.”

  Grace laughed, and I smiled as well. She and Tom had been high school sweethearts, but they’d chosen different colleges. They’d drifted apart over the years, but it was good seeing them together again.

  “You are too charming for your own good,” Grace said, and then she turned to me. “You remember Suzanne, don’t you?”

  “Of course I do. It’s great to see you again, Suzanne,” Tom said, turning those dazzling blue eyes on me. He was even better looking than he had been in high school, and I found myself fighting back an unexpected giggle. I reminded myself that I had a very significant other in my life as I tried to suppress my girlish laugh.

  “It’s really nice to see you, too,” I said.

  He looked around the crowded gym. “Where’s Max? Are you two still together?”

  It was my turn to laugh now. “Not for a long time. I divorced him quite awhile ago.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that,” Tom said.

  “I’m not,” I replied with a smile. “After our marriage broke up, I met someone much better than Max.”

  “Is he here with you tonight?” Tom asked as he looked around yet again. “I’d love to meet him.”

  “No, he’s away working,” I said.

  “More’s the pity,” Tom answered, and then he looked back at Grace. “I’ve been afraid to ask you this, but I can’t stand the suspense one second longer. Is there someone special in your life, Grace?”

  “No, not at the moment,” Grace said.

  “Wow, I’m really sorry to hear that,” Tom answered with a huge grin on his face.

  “Try to contain yourself. I can tell that you’re all broken up by the news,” she replied.

  Just then, the DJ played a song from our school days, and Tom bowed deeply to Grace. “May I have this dance?”

  “You may,” Grace said before she turned to me. “Suzanne, you don’t mind, do you?”

  “Not at all. You kids have fun,” I said.

  “Thanks,” Grace replied, and Tom took her hand and led her out onto the dance floor. They still looked good together, and it made me smile
seeing Grace so happy. Maybe Tom would stick around after the reunion. My best friend deserved someone good in her life. I saw Gary Thorpe standing to one side, a classmate who now owned a camera shop in town. He was taking video of the entire affair, though for the life of me, I couldn’t imagine why anyone would care.

  I was still watching Grace and Tom dance when an angry man nearly plowed into me where I stood on the sidelines. “Always the watcher, never the achiever, right, Hart?” Zane Dunbar asked with a frown. He’d been a bully all through school, and from the way he was acting at the moment, it was pretty clear that he hadn’t changed all that much over the years.

  The difference now was that I didn’t have to put up with him. “Go away, Zane. Nobody cares about what you think anymore.”

  “That’s just too bad,” he said. “I’m not going anywhere, and I’d like to see somebody try to throw me out.”

  A mousy-looking woman approached us tentatively, and I was surprised to see that it was Janet Yeager. She’d been so soft spoken through school that she’d barely made an impression on most folks. Janet looked at the man in front of me and said, “Zane, I think that you’ve had enough to drink.”

  He looked at her with raw anger. “You don’t tell me what to do, Janet. If you don’t like it, go back to the hotel.”

  I couldn’t help myself as I blurted out, “You two are together?”

  “We’re married, yes,” Janet said almost apologetically.

  “For now,” Zane said as he scanned the dance floor. “There he is. I’m going to get even with that jerk if it’s the last thing I do.”

  “Don’t do anything you’ll regret,” Janet pleaded, but Zane was already off.

  “He’s usually not like this,” Janet said to me. “I wish he wouldn’t drink so much. He’s already had an argument with Mr. Davidson and Helen Marston, and now this.”

  “I’m so sorry,” I said, for more reasons that I chose not to list, most of all that I was sorry that she’d decided to marry Zane in the first place.

  To my dismay, Zane headed straight for Tom. “There you are,” he said loudly. “Did you think you could hide from me all night?”

  “Zane, you’re drunk,” Tom said, barely interrupting his dance with Grace.

  “Yeah, that might be true, but you’re a liar and a cheat. I want my money back,” Zane pressed.

  “Everybody lost their shirts on that deal. There’s no money left to give.”

  “You mark my words,” Zane said as he stuck a meaty finger in Tom’s chest, stopping their dance. “I’ll get it back one way or the other.”

  Tom knocked the finger away, causing Zane to stumble a little. “Don’t push me, Zane,” he said.

  “You just wait,” Zane answered. He leaned toward Grace and whispered something in her ear, something that made her face go suddenly pale.

  As she stumbled back away from him, Tom moved in. “Leave her out of this, Zane.”

  “Try and stop me,” Zane snapped. He started to take a swing at Tom, but the man neatly sidestepped the punch and Zane went sprawling out onto the floor. Janet raced to help him, but when she got there, he knocked her hand away. “Leave me alone, woman. I don’t need your help,” he said.

  Just then, Officer Grant approached. He was one of Chief Martin’s best cops, and a friend of mine as well, not on duty but attending the reunion on his free time. Officer Grant loved donuts, and he wasn’t afraid of being tagged with any of the jokes about cops and donuts. He reached down and grabbed Zane’s arm in one swift motion. “Come on. Let’s get you some fresh air.”

  “Get your hands off me,” Zane snapped as he tried to free himself, but the police officer was too strong for him.

  “Outside right now,” Officer Grant said in a no-nonsense manner as he deftly walked Zane out of the gym without making too much of a scene.

  I hurried over to Janet. “Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine,” she said, clearly looking embarrassed by the entire confrontation that had just occurred. “I’d better go see how Zane is doing.”

  “You might want to give him a little time to cool off first,” I said.

  “I wish I could, but I can’t. Bye, Suzanne.”

  “Bye, Janet,” I said as she headed outside. It wasn’t my job to stop her, but I still didn’t like the thought of her going outside while her husband was in such a mood. Her husband. It was still nearly impossible for me to believe, but then again, I was sure that a few folks had been surprised when I’d ended up with Max.

  Grace and Tom were still dancing, but they were talking earnestly now as well. After the song ended, Grace quickly walked over to me, but Tom stayed right where he was, staring after her.

  “What just happened?” I asked Grace. “What did Zane say to you, Grace?”

  “It’s too complicated to go into right now,” she said. “Are you ready to leave?”

  I looked over at Tom, who appeared to be in shock by her sudden dismissal. “Are you sure that you want to go?”

  “I’m positive,” she said.

  There was no debate in her voice. “Let’s go, then.”

  I wasn’t sure where Zane, Officer Grant, and Janet had gone, but they weren’t in the parking lot when we left the building. It had been a chilly evening, but we’d walked over to the school together from my house, and as we headed back down Springs Drive, I told Grace, “I won’t push you about what just happened, but remember, I’m here if you need me.”

  “I know. Let’s just not talk right now, okay?”

  “That’s fine with me,” I said as we started walking back home in silence. There are a great many kinds of silences in our lives, from awkward moments on first dates to uncomfortable situations where we just don’t know what to say. Though Grace was clearly troubled by what Zane had said to her earlier, this wasn’t one of those uncomfortable moments. We’d been friends long enough to be able to share quiet moments comfortably, secure in the depth of our relationship. We walked past the bank, the newspaper office, and then city hall. ReNEWed, Gabby Williams’s shop, was just down from that, and then we were in front of Donut Hearts. It was my very own place, a business I’d bought with my divorce settlement, and now it was as much my home as the cottage that I shared with my mother. Grace and I walked across the long-abandoned railroad tracks, and I thought yet again of my late friend, James Settle. He’d been killed in the park across the street from where we now walked, a blacksmith struck down in senseless death, and I found myself missing him yet again. He’d deeded the rights to the tracks to me, and I promised myself that I’d hold onto them forever.

  Soon enough we were at Grace’s place, and I walked with her up the steps of her front porch.

  “If you don’t feel like being alone, you’re welcome to come home with me,” I said. “Momma’s out with Chief Martin, but I’m sure we can find something decadent in the fridge.”

  “If it’s all the same to you, I think I’ll just stay here,” she said.

  “I understand, but call me anytime, okay? I’m always available to you.”

  “Thanks,” Grace said, and as she reached out to touch my shoulder lightly, I saw that her hand was shaking a little. What had Zane said that had made such an impact on her? She’d most likely tell me eventually, but I wasn’t about to press her at the moment. There would be time enough later.

  Or so I thought.

  As I’d predicted, Momma was gone when I got home, and with Jake busy working across the state, I decided to take a long hot shower and get ready for bed. Sleep came quickly, and when my alarm clock rang six hours later, I felt ready to tackle a brand-new day. After getting dressed and tiptoeing downstairs, I grabbed a bagel on my way out the door and did my best not to wake Momma. Our schedules were completely different, and it was a rare day when she was awake in the morning as I left for work.

  I drove the short distance between my place and my business on Springs Drive in the quiet of the night, savoring the silence and the sheer solitude of the darkness.

/>   As I pulled in to park in front of the donut shop, my headlights caught someone, most likely a man, judging by his silhouette, sitting slumped forward on a bench in the park across from my shop.

  That was odd. There appeared to be a long taper beside him on the bench.