Custard Crime: Donut Mystery #14 (The Donut Mysteries) Read online

  “Don’t forget, you’ll be on your feet a lot more, too.”

  I looked over at her for a second. “Grace, are you saying that I shouldn’t go back to Donut Hearts tomorrow?”

  “What? Of course not. Everyone knows that’s where you belong. I’m just saying that you shouldn’t be surprised if it’s difficult at first getting used to being back in the saddle.”

  “Thanks for worrying about me, but I’m sure that I’ll manage just fine.”

  “Of course you will,” Grace said. “What do you think Jake’s going to say tonight?”

  “I’m not sure, but I’m betting that I’ll find out soon enough,” I said.

  We were back in town before long, and I pulled into Grace’s driveway so I could let her out and then make my way back to the cottage.

  “Good luck,” she said as she squeezed my hand before she got out of the Jeep. “Call me later if you need to talk.”

  “Grace, stop worrying about me. Everything is going to be just fine.”

  “Just keep repeating that, and maybe it will turn out to be true,” she said with a hopeful grin.

  I watched her go to her door, unlock it, and step inside before I made my way to the cottage. I wasn’t exactly concerned about my impending discussion with Jake, but that didn’t mean that I wouldn’t appreciate a little time to prepare myself for it.

  Unfortunately, that didn’t happen.

  The police cruiser was already parked in the driveway, and as my headlights swept across the porch as I pulled up, I saw Jake waiting for me there.

  It appeared that things were going to get started sooner rather than later, whether I was ready for it or not.

  Chapter 10

  “Hey, there,” I said as I approached Jake. “Can I make you something to eat?”

  “I appreciate the offer, but I picked up a sandwich on the way back,” he said.

  “Sorry about that. It’s not quite the golden cuisine I had, is it?” I asked. “Would you like to chat inside? It’s getting a little nippy out here.”

  “If you don’t mind, let’s do this out here. I’d kind of like to separate this conversation from the rest of our evening, if that’s okay with you.”

  “That doesn’t sound good,” I said as I took a seat beside him. “Go on. Let me have it. Chances are I deserve whatever I’m about to get.”

  Jake looked down at his hands for a few moments as he prepared himself to speak. Wow, Grace had been right. This really was going to be bad. “Suzanne, I don’t even know where to start,” he finally said. “This is the oddest way that I’ve ever worked a case in my entire career.”

  “I know that it’s not conventional for you,” I said, “but when you think about it, we make the perfect team. You shouldn’t be upset about it; you should be embracing it.”

  “Go on. Enlighten me,” he said softly.

  “Jake, one of the main reasons that you were assigned to this case is because you know so many of the people involved, right?”

  “Certainly that’s part of it,” he said grudgingly.

  “Well, when you think about it, that’s where Grace and I can help you. You look at things like a cop. You can’t help it. It’s been ingrained in you from your first day at the academy.”

  “That’s a good thing, Suzanne. Need I remind you that I’m very good at what I do?”

  “You don’t have to convince me,” I said. “I’m your biggest fan.”

  “Then why won’t you let me solve this case by myself?” He was clearly frustrated with the situation, and it hurt me to realize that it was my fault.

  “I’m good at what I do, too,” I said. “Grace, George and I have solved several murders in the past. Even Chief Martin is willing to admit that we’ve played vital roles in some of his investigations.”

  “The chief and I are two very different law enforcement officers, though.”

  “I’m not trying to take anything away from you. What I want to do is make things easier for you, not harder.”

  “How are you planning to do that?”

  “Think about it. Grace and I are able to ask questions that you aren’t. We can go places you’re not welcome, and we know where a lot of the skeletons are buried around town. Don’t forget, too, that our reach goes beyond April Springs. We have people we can talk to in Union Square as well.”

  “Don’t sell me too short. I’ve got a hunch that Angelica would talk to me, too,” Jake said.

  “Of course she would, but will she tell you the same things that she tells me? I don’t think so. Jake, the two of us have a history that you can’t touch.”

  “I guess what I hate most about this situation is the idea that you’re not safe,” Jake finally admitted. “Suzanne, I hope you know that my reluctance to involve you in this case has nothing to do with my ego. Trust me, I’ll take help wherever I find it. You’ve just come too close in the past to being hurt while you’ve been tracking down killers. If something happened to you while I was investigating, I’d never be able to forgive myself.”

  I could easily understand how he felt, but I couldn’t let that run my life. “I get it. I know firsthand how it felt when you were shot, but I’m not going to try to stop you from doing your job.”

  Jake stood at that point and began to pace around the porch. “But you’re a donutmaker. You’re not a trained investigator.”

  “I know that. Grace and I are both well aware of our limitations. We never take any unnecessary chances when we’re digging into murder. There’s something else that you need to realize. Think about the killers who still might be out there somewhere if we hadn’t taken an active role in investigating their crimes. I’m not sure I could live with myself if someone else got hurt when I might have been able to prevent it. When I first got started doing this, I had no idea how much satisfaction I’d get out of helping capture the bad guys.”

  “It kind of gets in your blood after a while, doesn’t it?” Jake asked with the hint of a grin showing.

  “So much so that I don’t think I can go back to being just a donutmaker anymore. Digging into these crimes has become a part of me, and of Grace as well. Please don’t ask us to give that up now.”

  “What kind of boyfriend would I be if I did that?” he asked lightly.

  “Not a very good one, despite the fact that your intentions might be just to protect me. This isn’t something I do because I need to. It’s something that I like to do.”

  “Maybe you should go to the academy yourself, then,” Jake said, halfway serious.

  “No, I don’t think so. I could never operate within your framework of rules, reports, and regulations. What I’m good at is talking to people, and finding out their secrets. I don’t have any desire to put the cuffs on a bad guy, or read them their rights, but I’m delighted if something I do helps capture them. The real question, though, is that something that you can live with?”

  “Do I have any choice? I know your mother didn’t. She told me herself that in the beginning, she tried her best to get you to stop.”

  “Let’s leave her out of this, shall we?” I asked him. “This is between you and me. What do you say? Can Grace and I work on the sidelines and help you find whoever killed Evelyn Martin?”

  It seemed to take him forever to answer, but when he did, he spoke with a wry smile. “Sure, why not? I know one thing. I’m going to have to learn to try to stop telling you to be careful with every breath I take. Just assume that every time we chat, that’s what I’m saying.”

  “I can do that,” I said with a smile.

  “Good enough,” he said. “And remember, I can’t do anything to give either one of you official status of any kind. This isn’t some kind of quid pro quo situation. You both need to tell me everything you uncover, but I’m not in the same position. I’m not about to share everything I know with both of you, so you’re going to be flying blind sometimes. There’s no other way to say it, Suzanne. To a certain extent, you and Grace are both on your own there.”


  “We don’t expect any special treatment from you,” I said, and then I smiled at him. “Well, at least not as far as our investigation is concerned.”

  “Then we should be fine.”

  “I have one question. Can we still call you if we get in a jam?” I asked.

  “I’d better be the first call that you make,” Jake said. “But do me a favor. Try not to get into any jams in the first place, okay?”

  “Will do, Chief.”

  “Inspector will do just fine,” he said. “Now, I know that we’ve both eaten, but how about some dessert?”

  “I ate more than I thought I would at Napoli’s, but I might have a bite of pie before I go to bed.”

  Jake looked at his watch. “Already? Oh, that’s right. In all of the excitement, I forgot that tomorrow was your first day back at Donut Hearts. How excited are you?”

  “More than I can express,” I said. After another moment’s thought, I added, “You know, I could probably get Emma and her mother to keep working at the shop for another week if you’d like me to help you investigate Evelyn’s murder.”

  “Young lady, you need to get back to that donut shop as soon as you can,” he said. “Your crime-solving can still be fitted in on your off-hours. Besides, I’m sure that everyone involved wants things back to normal as quickly as possible, including you, deep down.”

  “You’re right, but Grace and I are still planning to be active in the investigation.”

  “As you’ve made abundantly clear this evening,” he said. “Come on. Let’s get that pie.”

  “You don’t have to ask me twice.”

  As Jake and I enjoyed thin slices of one of the pies Momma had brought by the day before, I wondered how things would be tomorrow. I’d be back at work, and so would Jake. Though he wouldn’t be working his post with the state police, that didn’t mean that he wouldn’t be on the job. Would it change things between us, this new dynamic? I’d been used to taking care of him for the past month, but he was way past needing anything from me now, at least for healing purposes. I hoped that he’d always need me emotionally. I just prayed that wouldn’t change once he was running the investigation into Evelyn Martin’s murder. I’d seen the professional Jake enough to know how he could get while he was on a case.

  It would just be my duty to remind him that the job was one thing, and our relationship was something else altogether.

  I had to hit the alarm clock twice before I finally came fully awake the next morning. How did I ever manage all those years on such little sleep? As I took a quick shower, I realized that there would be a nap in my future, and I wondered if I’d have enough energy to investigate anything once I was back on my old schedule. At least I’d have the shop to myself before Emma came in.

  I was wrong about that too, though.

  When I pulled up in front of Donut Hearts, the lights inside were already on, and Emma’s car was parked off to one side.

  It appeared that my assistant had beaten me into work on her first day back. I wasn’t sure that was a good sign or not as I unlocked the front door and let myself in.

  “Hey, Emma. What are you doing here so early?” I asked as I took off my jacket and hung it up in the back room. At least I started to, until I found the hook already occupied by Emma’s coat.

  “Sorry about that,” she said as she reached for her jacket in order to move it.

  “Nonsense. You can keep your coat there if you’d like.”

  “No, it’s just a bad habit I got into,” she said as she moved the coat to her old spot, a hook closer to the back door. “There, that’s better.”

  “I really don’t mind,” I said as I put my jacket where it belonged, but it wasn’t entirely true. Was I actually upset that Emma had taken my coat hook when she’d been running the donut shop at my request? Wow, I might have had more issues with the situation than I realized.

  Emma smiled tentatively after I put my apron on. She said, “I’m sorry I’m early, but I’ve been used to coming in at this time of the morning for a month, and nobody told my body that I could sleep in a little today.”

  “That’s fine,” I said. “I understand completely. I’ve had a tough time sleeping in myself.” I clapped my hands together, and then I said with a smile, “Let’s get started, unless you’ve already made a batch of donuts yourself this morning.”

  “I’d be lying if I said that I wasn’t tempted, but I’m fine going back to the way we had things before.”

  That’s what she told me, anyway, but I wasn’t sure that I believed her. I knew that it would have been tough for me to take orders from anyone else once I’d been in charge. I’d have to be careful around Emma until we could figure out how to make things work again without tiptoeing around each other.

  I opened the first cabinet and found myself facing row upon row of spices instead of the baking powder I’d been expecting. “What happened here?”

  “Mom and I thought it made more sense,” she said, “but we can change things back to the way they were. I just figured you might like to see our arrangement before we made any changes.”

  It was unsettling to find things moved from where I’d been expecting them, but I took a deep breath and said, “Since you’re here early, why don’t you explain your new system to me and we’ll see?”

  “That would be great,” Emma said. She was so enthusiastic about the new placement of items I used every day that it was all I could do not to show the disapproval I felt. My immediate reaction was to put everything back the way that it had been when I’d left, but I took a deep breath and decided to give her the benefit of the doubt. After she was finished, I leaned back against the counter.

  “You hate it, don’t you?” Emma asked. “I told Mom that we should put things back the way they were, but she insisted I at least show this to you.”

  “I’m glad that you did,” I said. “There are a few things that I’m going to keep, but I hope you don’t mind if I put a few others back where I like them. It’s not that they aren’t good where they are. They just aren’t where I’ll be expecting them to be.”

  “That’s fine,” she said. “What exactly do you like?”

  “Well, I think the new spice arrangement could work,” I said.

  “What about the flour and sugar storage?” she asked.

  I shrugged. “I suppose I could probably get used to that as well.”

  Emma stared at me for a few seconds without saying a word, and I was afraid that she was about to cry when she surprised me by laughing loudly.

  “What’s so funny?” I asked her.

  “I just did all of this to mess with you, Suzanne. We kept things the way you had them, but when I got here early this morning, I decided to have a little fun.”

  I had to laugh as well. “You nearly killed me just now; you know that, don’t you?”

  As Emma and I started putting things back in their rightful places, she said, “I thought you were going to bite your lower lip in half. Don’t worry. I can have this finished in five minutes, and I haven’t punched in yet, so it’s on my dime.”

  “I think the joke is at least worth being on the clock for,” I said. “Mark your time down, and let’s get things back to where they belong.”

  “It’s good to have you back,” Emma said with a smile as she noted the time down.

  “Are you sure that you’re not going to hate going back to being my assistant?”

  “I’m positive,” she said. “I did have a few ideas I wanted to run past you, though. I’m not trying to upset the system we have working now, but Mom and I came up with a few things that might make both of our lives easier.”

  “I’m all for that,” I said. “Let’s hear what you’ve got.”

  By the time we had things right again, I’d listened to Emma’s pitches. They were all sound, little tweaks in our routine that would indeed make both of our lives better. “Done and done,” I said. “I only have one condition before I accept your new ideas.”

  “Wh
at’s that?” she asked, clearly concerned about what my request might be.

  “I want you to come in early two days a week and make the cake donuts on your own. That will keep your hand in things, and it will have the bonus of allowing me to sleep in a little later two days a week. You’ll make more money, and have more responsibility as well. How does that sound to you?”

  “It’s perfect,” she said. “Are you sure you don’t mind giving up some control?”

  “I turned the whole place over to you for a month,” I said. “I think I can at least do that much. I had another thought.”

  “I’m listening,” Emma said.

  “When things settle down, I’d love it if you and your mother would be willing to take the shop over for a few weeks again.”

  “Are you kidding? Mom would love the opportunity to squirrel away more travel funds, and you know me, I’m always saving up, too. What did you have in mind?”

  “Jake promised me a trip to Paris, and I plan to take him up on it,” I said.

  “Good for you,” Emma said as she hugged me. “So, I’m willing to wager that familiarity hasn’t bred any contempt yet.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Well, he’s been staying with you for a month now. I’m guessing that he’s not moving out anytime soon.”

  “Guess again,” I said as I started getting ingredients out to make my cake donut batter. “As soon as he solves this case, he’s going back to Raleigh.”

  “I’m so sorry,” Emma said.

  “Don’t be. I’m all for it,” I said as I set up the bowls for different donut mixes.

  “Aren’t you afraid that you’ll be lonely in that cottage all by yourself now that your mom’s moved out?” she asked me.

  “My mother is a newlywed; I’d hope that she’d live with her groom, and everyone knows that the police chief and me living under the same roof just wasn’t going to work. Besides, I’m kind of looking forward to being alone. It’s past time, if you ask me. Now, is there anything else ground-shattering that you need to tell me about before we get back into our old routines?”