Turkey Truffle Murder (A Maple Hills Cozy Mystery Book 8)
Author: Meadows, Wendy
Date: 2017-05-19
Publisher: Majestic Owl Publishing LLC
Rights: Copyright 2017 Wendy Meadows. All rights reserved.

Turkey Truffle Murder

A Maple Hills Cozy Mystery #8

Wendy Meadows

Copyright © 2017 by Wendy Meadows

All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, without prior written permission.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are a product of the author’s imagination. Locales and public names are sometimes used for atmospheric purposes. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, or to businesses, companies, events, institutions, or locales is completely coincidental.

Printed in the United States of America

Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Thanks for reading

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About the Author

Also by Wendy Meadows

Chapter One

The glorious smell of chocolate and pumpkin filled Nikki’s nostrils as she busied herself with scooping out her perfected chocolate blend onto a pan. It was only a little over a week before Thanksgiving, and she felt like the entire town had come out to try her fall recipes that morning. She had started to wonder whether or not the pumpkin-flavor deserts were ever going to attract any attention, but all of a sudden—a mere week and a half before the holiday—everyone wanted a sample of just about everything. Evidently, people were worried about impressing in-laws or parents or significant others with some special dish, so half the town was trying to decide exactly what they would bring to their families holiday celebration.

Nikki’s poor assistant, Tori, had already complained to her once about her hand cramping up from all of the orders that had come in. They were booking orders for Nikki’s specialty chocolates every thirty minutes; it was getting to the point that Nikki was worried she was going to have to call in some backup. The thought made her smile. Who knew Thanksgiving would be the holiday that made her shop so popular?

Once the chocolate-pumpkin morsels were ready to go in the fridge, Nikki wiped her brow and exhaled loudly.

“Oh my goodness!” a squeaky little voice exclaimed. Tori popped her head into the kitchen, grinning from ear to ear. “I just booked our biggest order yet, Nikki! Twelve dozen of your pumpkin-chocolate morsels, two dozen pumpkin spice cookies, three dozen chocolate turtles-” Tori droned on for a moment, listing off what sounded like the entire fall menu.

“Who in the world placed such an order?” Nikki asked, following Tori out of the kitchen and to the front of the shop where several customers were still lined up. Three small children had their noses pressed against the glass of the sample display; they eyed the candies and chocolates with excitement.

“Mr. Johnson. Says his wife hasn’t been feeling great lately, and she’s always been in charge of desserts at the family get-togethers. He told her he’d handle it this year, and by handle it, he clearly meant hire someone else to do it,” Tori said, giggling to herself.

Lidia was busy behind the counter helping the line of patrons. She spun on her heels; sometimes Nikki could swear that the woman had a sixth sense. She always knew when Tori appeared. With the wave of her hand, Lidia summoned Tori toward her. “Tori, dear, mind making me four hot chocolates, please? Add some caramel drizzle to one.”

“On it!” Tori exclaimed and scurried to the large coffee area. “All original?” she asked.

“Oh, no, sorry. One peppermint please!” Lidia said, seeming a bit frazzled.

“Okay, Lidia, go take a break. I’ll take over the counter,” Nikki insisted.

“I’ll check those peppermint candies you made earlier,” said Lidia. “I want to put one out in the display.” She disappeared quickly, re-emerging before Nikki even had a chance to speak to the customer waiting patiently in front of the counter.

The door opened, sending a cool whip of winter air into the shop as more guests lined themselves up. Nikki gazed outside the shop windows to see a good bit of snow layering the streets outside. A snow plow was making its way through Maple Hills as she placed the next order.

The rest of the day continued in a similar fashion. It was busy and filled with people chit-chatting about the upcoming holiday. The new seating area turned out to be a huge hit. They had cleared up some room by placing some of the display cases in storage and filling the empty space with cushioned chairs and small love seats. They also had put out a coffee table and a bookshelf with a varied selection. People were staying longer and ordering more because of the comfy place to sit.

It was finally getting close to closing time, and Nikki could feel her ankles swelling slightly. She could not recall whether or not she had sat once all day apart from her brief break at lunch. There were still four customers lingering around the seating area, and Nikki was somewhat confident the group was going to order some more hot chocolate to go before they left. Tori had done a good job at talking up the various flavors of hot chocolate they had, and it had sparked an interest.

It was a bit early, but Nikki started on the closing duties in the back. Cleaning counters, washing dishes, and any sort of general tidying up was done just as she noted the time. Closing time had arrived. She headed back to the front to see the four patrons waving their goodbyes to the friendly Tori, each with a to-go cup in their hands. The little bell above the door jingled on their way out, and Nikki smiled. “Look at you, Miss Saleslady,” Nikki teased.

“I’m telling you,” Lidia added from across the room; she was busy straightening up the bookshelf, “this girl knows how to up-sale. If someone came in here expecting to buy five of your chocolate-pumpkin morsels, they’d leave with an order of two dozen in one hand and a cup of hot chocolate in the other. I think we should keep her.”

“I didn’t realize you were thinking about getting rid of me,” said Tori with a slight grin. She put her hands on her hips and declared proudly, “Yeah, I think I pretty much rocked it today.”

Nikki laughed and shook her head. She headed out from behind the counter and began sweeping while Tori polished the display cases. “So, Lidia, do you and your family have any fun holiday traditions?” Nikki asked, making small talk while the three ladies did their closing work.

The older woman exhaled heavily and stretched her back, taking a moment to brush her gray hair out of her face, mumbling to herself about needing a haircut before answering. “Oh, you know Herbert. Lazy old coot won’t do much anymore.” She laughed. “But there is one tradition we have that has managed to stand the test of time. Every year, the two of us bake cranberry pies together. Been doing that since we were still goofy young kids just dating. It’s one of his family’s recipes. Our first Thanksgiving together he whipped out his mother’s old recipe and tried to show off his non-existent baking skills. I had to save him from embarrassment and step in. It sort of became a tradition after that. Every year, we bake pies together.”

“That is so cute!” Tori exclaimed as though the thought of a woman in her sixties still having casual fun with her husband was both unusual and adorable.

There was just something about Tori that always gave Nikki the giggles. She used to be so shy when she had first met Nikki, but Tori’s personality had really started to show itself in recent days. And now that she actually talked more around her and Lidia, Nikki had learned that Tori was quite hilarious in her personality and mannerisms. Plus, now that she had come out of her shell a bit, Tori had become a much better salesperson. She was much less timid working the counter with customers than she had once been. “What about you, Tori?” Nikki asked. “What are you and your family doing?”

“Oh, well,” Tori said softly. She had a stern frown on her face as though the question would result in a disappointing answer. “Normally we have our family’s Thanksgiving in a town a couple of miles south of here every year.” She sighed heavily. “But for some reason, the whole family has decided to go to my uncle’s up in New York.”

“Oh, New York? How…festive,” Lidia said.

Tori shook her head. “Not really. It’s so crowded and loud, and my uncle’s home can’t accommodate the entire family, so we’re all on top of each other. I’ve decided not to go. It’s such an expensive trip for me, and I know I would just be uncomfortable the whole time.”

“So, you’ll spend Thanksgiving with me,” Nikki said. “My son is coming to town from college, so I’ll probably wind up making way more food than necessary anyways. What do you say?”

Tori smiled at her, and it seemed that it only took her a split second to make up her mind. “Nikki, that sounds just wonderful. Honestly, I was really disappointed about not celebrating, so thank you. I would love to spend Thanksgiving with you. Can I bring anything? I make an awesome sweet potato casserole.”

“That’s quite a claim, Tori,” Lidia warned. “You know that Nikki is from Georgia. Those girls really know their casseroles. And sweet potatoes? You sure you’re up for making such a Southern dish for such a Southern lady?”

“You act like Virginia isn’t in the South, Lidia,” said Tori.

“Not the Deep South,” Lidia teased. “I’m sure you make a fine sweet potato casserole, Tori.”

“And I’d love to try it,” Nikki said. “This will be fun, I’m sure. I’ve got to bring out all the stops since Seth is coming. He’ll be expecting a Thanksgiving feast, knowing him.”

“Kids,” Lidia griped half-heartedly.

The three women finished closing up shop, and they bid each other farewell before exiting into the cold. Nikki wrapped her coat tightly around her, the slight frost in the air tickling her nose as she walked to her car. She began making a mental list of things she would need to get done before Seth arrived. There was a lot of shopping and meal prepping to be done, and that was just for home. There were also dozens of orders to prepare for her customers. She took a look at the time on her phone and nodded to herself, deciding it was not so late that she couldn’t make a grocery run. She had a new chocolate recipe she wanted to try out before the holiday, and she was running low on vanilla extract at the house as well as at the shop.

After loading up into her vehicle, Nikki drove wearily down the icy road. Being from Georgia, she wasn’t quite used to this sort of hazardous driving, but she knew she needed to grin and bear it. The weather conditions certainly were not stopping anyone else in town from getting their errands done. She smiled happily to herself as she drove, thinking about the successful day at the shop–one of the most successful days since she had first opened–as well as daydreaming about her son coming to visit. She was going to make sure it was a Thanksgiving he would remember.

Chapter Two

Nikki sat quietly in the passenger’s seat of her car as Hawk softly hummed the tune of “Jingle Bells” and tapped his thumbs against the steering wheel to the melody. They had been out of Maple Hills for close to forty-five minutes, and they would be arriving in the small city that housed the nearest airport within fifteen minutes or so. Her mind was on a number of things, but Hawk’s humming was distracting her. Though, truthfully, she really enjoyed his current state of merriment. “You know it’s not even Thanksgiving yet?” Nikki teased.

“So what?” he questioned as though her statement made little to no sense to him. He continued humming for a moment until she spoke again.

“Well, you’re humming Christmas music,” she stated the obvious.

“Two things,” he said firmly and with an unnecessary level of seriousness in his tone. “One: it is never a bad time of year to sing Christmas carols. I will sing it in June, woman! And two: there is nothing about the song ‘Jingle Bells’ that makes it strictly a Christmas song. It is a winter song, and guess what? It’s winter.”

Nikki laughed slightly. “It is so a Christmas song. What is the matter with you?”

“Sing the lyrics,” he demanded. A triumphant smile appeared on his face as though, before she even conceded to his request, he had already emerged victorious.

Nikki frowned. She did not sing them out loud, but she quietly hummed to herself and allowed the words to pass through her mind. “Oh, you’re right,” she said. “Wait, no…I’ve always been told it’s a Christmas song, but you’re right. It’s just a song about riding in the snow.”

“Jingle all the way,” he sang slightly. Nikki nudged him and gave him a slight eye roll before slouching back down in her seat. Only a brief moment of silence passed before he questioned, “What’s wrong?”

I need to be careful around him, Nikki thought to herself. Here I thought I was hiding it well! “Oh, nothing!” she quirked, but she knew that would not satisfy his questioning.

“Don’t you oh nothing me, Miss Bates!” Hawk said. “What is it? You can tell me, you know that.”

“Okay, fine,” she said and sat upright. “I’m a little nervous about you and Seth meeting face to face for the first time.”

“Is that all?” he asked with a whine and a shake of his head. He then sighed and gripped the steering wheel. Hawk seemed to be gazing out the window with such intensity that it appeared as though he was studying the snowflakes as they fell. He clicked his teeth a bit and popped his neck, attempting to buy himself some time to think before saying anything more. “Okay, so the truth is, I’m a little nervous too. From what I can tell, you and your son are very close. You seem very protective and supportive of him. You’re a good mom, Nikki. I don’t want to blow it with Seth because then I might blow it with you too.”

Nikki smiled. From how intense he appeared, she could tell that this had certainly been something on his mind. She began to imagine Hawk worrying throughout the day, knowing that this evening they would be picking up Seth. She wondered how much time had been spent that day worrying over meeting Seth. Had he lost sleep over it that week? The man continued looking straight ahead with a nervous disposition as though he had never driven in snow before, but he was a native to the land, and this little bit of flurries was certainly not what was making him anxious. “You really are worried, aren’t you?” she questioned. “Hawk, don’t be. I shouldn’t have said anything.”

“No, you definitely should have. You can always talk to me about what’s bothering you, even if it’s something that’s going to make my hair fall out,” he said and then laughed and glanced her way for a second. “Is this really the best your car’s heat can do? It’s freezing in here.”

Nikki nodded. “Unfortunately, yes. Look, there’s a café coming up. Looks like they have a drive-thru. Why don’t we get some hot chocolate?”

“Sounds good,” he said, and he turned into the parking lot of the corporate café.

There was a slight line in the drive-thru, but they were making good time. They would arrive at the airport with plenty of time to spare, so they waited patiently behind the line of cars. “So,” Hawk said as they waited, “you think Seth will like me?”

“I think so,” Nikki said.

“Then why are you nervous about us meeting?” he asked.

Nikki paused to think about this for a moment. Seth and Hawk had similar interests, and their humors would certainly be in-sync. They were bound to hit it off, and it wasn’t like she was going to shock Seth with the surprise of a new boyfriend. Seth knew all about Hawk from their phone conversations and emails. Nikki had even sent Seth a picture of the two of them standing in front of the chocolate shop in one of the monthly care packages she liked to send him. She smiled, thinking about how he would always call her and tell her how much he loved the chocolates she sent and how he couldn’t wait to see her shop since it had been refurbished for the winter season. He had joked about Hawk looking like a hobo in that one picture she had sent due to the old coat he had been wearing and the fact that he hadn’t shaved in a few days. It probably hadn’t been the most flattering picture she could have sent, but now there was a fun running joke between mother and son about her dating some guy she picked up off the street. It was a joke she intended to never let Hawk in on because it was bound to embarrass him.

After giving it some thought, Nikki answered Hawk with caution. “It’s not that I think he won’t like you, because I do. I just haven’t really been with anyone since Seth’s father left. I’m worried he’s going to feel like I’m trying to replace his father.”

Hawk nodded, but he still looked tense. They ordered their hot chocolate, and soon they were sipping on the warm, sugary drinks as they made their way back to the main road. “I guess I understand that,” Hawk said. “I grew up with parents who were happily married. It would be weird to see either of them with someone else.”

“That’s all it is, really,” Nikki said. “Just nervous about how he’s going to feel about it is all. I’ve told him about you, but that’s just talking. Being around the two of us together is another thing entirely.”

Hawk gave her a goofy grin. “You talk about me a lot, Nikki?”

“Oh, shut up,” she said, giggling and slapping his arm.

“Easy, you’re going to make me spill my hot chocolate!” he exclaimed, but he still had that same silly grin on his face.

Nikki rolled her eyes. Hawk was in a silly mood tonight; it was probably to make up for his nervousness. “Well, I guess both Seth and I will be doing introductions this evening.”

“What do you mean?”

“He’s bringing his girlfriend.”

Hawk’s joyful demeanor suddenly left his face, and he became serious, placing his hot chocolate in a cup holder. “Oh?” he questioned. “You didn’t mention that to me before.”

“It was a very last-minute decision,” Nikki moaned. “I’m not really looking forward to it. I didn’t even know about a girlfriend until this morning. He’s not one to keep things like that from me, but I guess things are a little different now that he’s off at college.”

“I wish you had told me,” Hawk said.

“I know, but like I said, I didn’t even know until just this morning. A part of me is upset about it because I was hoping to get to spend some time with just him. But then again, another part of me is kind of relieved.”

“How so?”

“Well,” Nikki said with a hint of anger and annoyance in her tone, “Seth hasn’t really had much of a dating life since high school. His last serious relationship was this little…let’s say shrew…and they were serious. I really liked her too, but they ended things pretty roughly after he found out she had been cheating on him pretty much the entire time they were together. It really broke his heart. First love kind of thing, you know? Those are tough to get over, especially when they end like that. Ever since then, he hasn’t really been with anyone, and I have been starting to worry. I don’t know much about this girl, but he sounded really happy when he started telling me about her.”

Hawk smiled. “I know how a girl can do that to you.”

Nikki blushed and had to clear her throat to finish what she was saying. “I’m just glad to hear that my son has moved on from that.”

“Good,” Hawk said. “Who knows, Nikki? You might really like this girl.”

“I hope so,” she said. “Seth deserves a sweetheart.”

She continued to sip on her hot chocolate and make light conversation with Hawk. They talked about the shop and how well it had been doing for the past several days, and he talked about work at the station as well. Things had apparently been very quiet, which was unusual this time of year. “The crazies all like to come out around the holidays,” Hawk said. “Mostly people getting in fights at stores doing Christmas shopping. Black Friday is always a busy day for us. It’s like we have to be both cops and act as free security detail for local shops. But it’s that way anywhere. I’m just glad I don’t work in the city.”

“Ah, Black Friday,” Nikki sang. “It’s been a long time since I’ve done any Black Friday shopping. I don’t have it in me anymore. I made the mistake of going to Atlanta once for my Black Friday shopping, and a woman dumped my buggy over to keep me from getting to something, I don’t even remember what, but I remember I wasn’t even trying to get it. She just thought I was.”

“You’re kidding!” Hawk exclaimed.

“Wish I was. Now I hide in my house and close the blinds on Black Friday and wait until it’s over!” Nikki laughed.

“I do Cyber Monday now for my Christmas shopping,” Hawk said.

“Cyber Monday?”

“Yeah, you haven’t heard of Cyber Monday?” he asked as though this was some sort of terrible sin, but he could not help but grin, unable to remain serious about something so trivial.

“Is that really a thing?” she asked skeptically, sitting upright in her seat and giving him a serious look.

“It is, I swear!” he laughed at her. “Basically it’s the Monday after Thanksgiving. You get the same sort of deals you would in-store, but all the deals are online. So you get the deals but you don’t have to worry about someone pushing over your cart.”

“Noted,” she said. “I might just have to try that out this year.” She looked ahead and could see the lights from the airport up ahead. She let loose a loud, exasperated sigh.

“You ready?” Hawk asked as they pulled down the road that would take them to parking.

Nikki nodded. “I suppose I’m as ready as I’ll ever be.”

They headed down the long road, waiting in line behind other cars waiting to get into the parking lot. It took them nearly twenty-five minutes to find a parking spot. Once they were parked, Nikki felt the need to sit nervously in the car for a moment. She tried to envision this girlfriend that Seth would be bringing. She hardly knew a thing about her apart from the fact that her name was Jackie. She didn’t know how Seth had met her, if they attended school together, or even what she looked like. It made her nervous. Apparently the girl had sort of invited herself along, and that made Nikki all the more anxious. Was she one of those girls with a pushy personality? Did she pressure Seth into letting her meet his family too soon? Or were the two of them really serious and Nikki had just grown apart from Seth to where he didn’t feel the need to tell her about a blossoming relationship?

Nikki pulled herself away from the thoughts of anxiety and doubt. It was not going to do her any good. “Okay,” Nikki said after taking a deep breath and opening up the car door. “Let’s go.”

Chapter Three

It had been a long time since Nikki had seen her son face to face, so she could not contain her excitement once she managed to get out of her own head about the girlfriend. “Slow down, cowgirl,” Hawk teased, fumbling with the car keys to get the vehicle locked as quickly as possible. “I don’t think his plane has even landed yet.”

“Well, you never know, and I don’t want to keep him waiting,” Nikki said defiantly. She pulled her coat tighter around herself and spun around to see that Hawk was messing with her, intentionally taking longer than necessary just to keep her waiting. “Oh, come on! It’s freezing out here, so I want to get inside as quickly as possible. Quit messing with me! I’m cold!”

“Is winter here really so different than in Georgia?” Hawk asked.

“I’d still be wearing shorts this time of year,” Nikki declared, swaying back and forth to keep herself moving, hoping to keep her blood flow up to keep herself from catching a chill. Being still too long with the nippy wind blasting through the parking garage was bound to give her the shakes. Thanksgiving time back in Georgia required the awkward combination of shorts and a sweatshirt to survive the weather. And after a few rounds of backyard tag football with the family, you tended to ditch the sweatshirt. A regular downpour of snow was a rarity back home, so it was certainly not something she was accustomed to just yet.

“All right, you ready?” Hawk asked in a taunting tone once the car was locked up. He laughed at her frustration and hooked her arm in his. She burrowed herself into him slightly, feeding off of his warmth. The two of them began their long walk through the parking lot, squeezing close together to combat the sudden wind they were having.

Once inside the airport, they learned that Seth’s flight had only just landed and the passengers were still on the plane. “It’ll be a while,” Hawk said, so the two of them roamed around the airport’s shops for a while before settling down a short distance away from baggage claim.

For a while, the two of them attempted to hold a conversation by people watching. They softly whispered commentary about people who were walking in and out of the airport, but soon this grew dull and was no longer entertaining.

Nikki pulled out her phone and attempted to pass the time looking up new ideas for recipes for her chocolate shop. She saved a few things, but even after close to forty minutes of sifting through the internet, she did not find anything revolutionary. She was always looking for new ideas, but it had been a while since something extraordinary had come her way. She yawned and felt herself slowly starting to lean towards Hawk, his shoulder being quite tempting, but she did not want to be half asleep when her son arrived.

Eventually, though, she succumbed to the temptation and rested her head on Hawk’s shoulder-slowly drifting off to sleep. The next thing she knew, Hawk was giving her a slight shake. She sat upright and rubbed her eyes. “Hey, Mom,” the familiar voice of her son jolted her. Her eyes shot open, and her sleepiness quickly faded into excitement.

Nikki leaped up from her seat, all smiles, and wrapped her arms around her son. “Seth!” she exclaimed. “It’s so good to see you!” Her stomach fluttered, and she felt a sweep of emotions. She felt like it had been ages since she had last seen her son. While her shop and her new relationship had kept her busy, it had not made her miss her son any less.

When she pulled apart from him, she got a good look. He had grown out his facial hair a bit, and it looked awful, not that she would tell him that, at least not at that moment. It would be a few more years before he had the capability to grow a serious beard rather than the patchy disaster she was staring at. His eyes glistened slightly, but there was a nervousness behind those eyes. “You must be Hawk?” Seth asked politely, looking around Nikki at the man who was slowly rising to his feet. Seth reached his hand out to shake, and Nikki smiled proudly at her son’s polite gesture.

“And you must be Seth,” Hawk said and the two of them shook hands. They both smiled at one another, and Nikki was glad that it did not seem awkward at all.

Nikki’s eyes scanned the area for a girl who could be the date Seth had warned he would be bringing, but she did not see a young college girl nearby. I hope he didn’t leave her at baggage claim! She thought in horror, but she knew her son was more of a gentleman than that. What she did see at last was a woman who had to be in her mid-thirties standing right behind Seth with a less than perky smile. In fact, the woman looked outright uncomfortable.

“Mom, this is Jackie,” Seth said, and Nikki had to fight the urge to pop her son in the back of the head. The woman’s neck was covered in tattoos, and if not for the coat she was wearing, Nikki suspected she would be seeing even more ink. The excessive tattoos, though, were only a mild annoyance compared to the woman’s age.

“Oh!” was all Nikki managed to let slip. She glanced in Hawk’s direction and could see that his face was contorted much like her own. Nikki opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out.

“Um…it’s nice to meet you,” Jackie said quietly, but she avoided eye contact with both Nikki and Seth.

Seth, clearly realizing that his mother was shocked by the age of his girlfriend, spoke quickly to prevent an awkward silence. “So, you guys good to go? We’ve been sitting around airports all day trying to get here, so I’d love to get home. I’m exhausted.”

“Yeah,” Hawk said quickly. “Let’s get going and try to beat this crowd before the roads get flooded.” Hawk gave Nikki’s arm a slight tug, and she began functioning on autopilot. She walked alongside Hawk, allowing him to lead her because she was still in a bit of shock at the woman she had just been introduced to. She must be twice his age, Nikki kept thinking while forcing herself to bite her tongue for the time being.

Jackie skipped along beside Seth, and the two of them soon were wrapped up in their own conversation. Hawk and Nikki walked ahead of the couple a considerable distance–far enough to avoid having to talk to them but close enough to where it did not seem like they were trying to ditch them. “What am I looking at, Hawk?” Nikki whispered, at last able to speak after the momentary loss of speech.

“Your son is dating a woman who is closer to your age than his,” he said plainly, and Nikki punched him fiercely in the arm.

“Oh, this is so awkward. It’s awkward. It’s awkward. It’s awkward,” Nikki kept muttering under her breath. “What should I do? Should I say something?” she asked, and Hawk shook his head no.

“Don’t do that,” Hawk insisted. “Let it go for now. Trust me. Get him home first. Last thing you want is him getting mad and the two of them going to get a hotel room for the night.”

“Oh geesh,” Nikki hissed under her breath.

The awkwardness in the airport was nothing compared to the discomfort in the car. Silence. Absolute silence. Every single desperate attempt at small talk only seemed to make them all feel even more uncomfortable. “So,” Hawk said after they were a good ways from the airport, “how did you two meet?” Nikki could see Hawk’s eyes glance up in the rearview mirror for a moment before returning to the snowy road that lay before them.

This should be good, Nikki thought just as her son and Jackie both put their feet in their mouths.

“We had a class together,” Seth said at the exact same time that Jackie said, “Tattoo parlor.” Nikki glared up at the rearview, and she could see Seth quickly avert his eyes. She felt an urge to reach into the back seat to punch him in the leg, but she resisted the temptation.

“So, what was that?” Nikki asked firmly. “How did you two meet?”

“We had a class together; that is how we met,” Seth stammered. “But I went with my roommate; he was getting a tattoo, and Jackie was, um, there. Her, um, friend was also getting a tattoo, and we wound up talking. So I guess we also met at the tattoo parlor because, well, we hadn’t really spoken in class before.”

“Gotcha,” Nikki said, but she was not buying it. Seth didn’t lie to her. Ever. But he was clearly nervous about bringing this woman around, so Nikki was not going to put it past him that he could be bending the truth a bit to make the situation less uncomfortable for himself.

Another wave of silence passed. Nikki glanced in Hawk’s direction and could see he was gripping the steering wheel so tightly that his knuckles were turning white; he had certainly not expected to be so uncomfortable, and neither had Nikki. Hawk spoke to break the silence. “So, Jackie, what is it you do?”

Jackie hesitated before answering. “I, uh, I work at a tattoo parlor,” she said, apparently deciding that not lying was her best route.

Smart, Nikki thought. She already had an instant distaste for the woman, so honesty was going to be her best route, and the woman knew it.

Looking up in the rearview, Nikki could see Seth palm his face in embarrassment. “So, you got a tattoo now, Seth?” Nikki asked, but Seth just grunted and chose not to answer. A million different visions of ridiculous tattoos flashed through Nikki’s mind, and she started to make herself sick. Skull and crossbones? A stupid cartoon character? Dear, God, his father’s birthday? Surely not! She decided not to press further about the tattoo, but it would be a conversation that she would sure to let resurface very soon.

More silence, and Nikki could tell that it was about to make Hawk explode. After a moment, Hawk leaned forward and turned up the radio, so the four of them remained quiet and simply listened to the music for the remainder of the car ride back to Maple Hills. Sitting in absolute silence was much better than trying and failing to make casual conversation.

Nikki felt positively overwhelmed with disappointment. She had already been secretly displeased with Seth bringing a guest, but she had convinced herself it was for the best. He hadn’t dated in a long time, and she wanted him to be happy. Plus, it would have taken some tension away from the fact that his mother was in a new relationship. But this was certainly not a tension releaser. What business did her son have dating a woman nearly twice his age? And she was going to find out if he had tattooed himself up even if it killed her.

They pulled up in front of Nikki’s home, and all four of them bolted inside to avoid the cold. Hawk and Seth dropped off the luggage in the foyer, and then the four of them made their way into the kitchen. Nikki flipped on the kitchen light, revealing the adorable display of chocolates she had laid out just for Seth and his girlfriend. Now Nikki wished she had not put in so much effort. Truthfully, she had imagined a sweet college freshman who had stolen her son’s heart, and Nikki had wanted to make a good first impression. Jackie, in all honesty, was not exactly someone Nikki felt the need to impress.

“Oh, how cute!” Jackie said, pointing to the kitchen island where a collection of chocolates were laid out. They were molded carefully and made to look like little turkeys. Without so much as an invite, Jackie plopped one of the carefully designed chocolate turkeys into her mouth. For all Jackie knew, those chocolates had not been intended for them.

From the corner of her eye, Nikki could see Seth shoot her a nervous glance. Nikki took a breath; she was not going to start something with Jackie over something so trivial. “What do you think?” Nikki asked politely, and she could see her son’s shoulders drop in relief. Even Seth knows that was inappropriate, Nikki thought. She laughed in her mind for a moment, realizing Seth probably thought that the fancy chocolate turkeys had been intended for customers and not them.

“So good,” Jackie said.

“Good,” Nikki said, and then there was silence again. Is this how the entire week is going to be? Nikki wondered.

“So,” Seth said. “It’s kind of late, right? I’m sure you guys are just as tired as we are. So, I think we ought to retire for the night.”

Nikki frowned. She had hoped to do a little bit of catch up, but she supposed it could wait until the next morning. Then an uncomfortable thought struck her. Had she been dealing with a typical college freshman, she wouldn’t feel too strange about telling the girl she was going to need to sleep on the couch. The thought of her son sharing a bed with this woman made her anxious.

Hawk must have picked up on her discomfort because he acted quickly. “Say, Jackie, you know I have a guest room at my place. It’s up to you, but I know Nikki doesn’t really have a lot of room here. If you want, why don’t you stay in my guest room? I’m sure that little bed of Seth’s won’t be comfortable for the two of you anyways, and I just live a short drive from here. Plus, didn’t you say one of your employees would be staying here this week too? The house is bound to get really crowded, right, Nikki? What do you say, Jackie?”

Jackie smiled, and it was fairly obvious that Jackie was reading right through everyone’s discomfort with her. Frankly, Nikki didn’t care. She just didn’t want the woman in her house. Jackie nodded. “You know what, that sounds lovely,” she said, and Seth frowned.

“You sure you don’t want to stay here?” Seth questioned. “I mean, it’s not that small of a bed. And we have a couch here. I can sleep on the couch if it gets too uncomfortable for you.”

Nikki felt Jackie looking towards her, so Nikki averted her eyes. Jackie smiled. “It’s all right, Seth. I’ll go stay with your mom’s friend. Plus, it would probably be nice if you got to spend some time with your mom, right?”

“Um, sure,” he griped.

“Okay, so it’s settled,” Hawk said, grabbing hold of Jackie’s suitcase. “I’m assuming the purple suitcase with the flowers is yours and not Seth’s, right?”

Jackie laughed. “Yes, that one is mine. Thank you.”

“Okay, well, I guess I’ll text you tomorrow,” Seth said, and he and Nikki walked Hawk and Jackie to the door.

“Thank you,” Nikki mouthed to Hawk as they were leaving, and he nodded and winked at her. A bit of tension released itself to see Jackie walking back out to the car with Hawk.

Nikki closed the door, and as soon as she did, she spun around on her heels to face down her son. She felt like screaming, and she was sure that Seth could see it written all over her face. Her son’s cheeks were bright red, and he avoided eye contact. “So, I think I’m going to go to bed,” he said. “It’s been a long day with a lot of flying and waiting around the airport, you know?”

“Oh, no,” Nikki said. “You and I need to talk, Seth.”

Chapter Four

Nikki felt Seth’s gaze, and it was a look of absolute discontent. His face was wrinkled up, and he reminded her of when he was a little boy and he would try to pout to get his way. “Mom, I’m tired. We can catch up in the morning,” he said and attempted to walk away.

“This isn’t about catching up, Seth, and you know it,” Nikki said and walked after him, hurrying around him to cut him off in their living room. “What in the world is the matter with you? What business do you have dating a woman that much older than you? Are you trying to give me a heart attack?”

“You know what, you were really rude to Jackie,” Seth claimed. “And, what, because she’s a little older than me?”

“A little!” Nikki exclaimed. “Seth, she must be twice your age!”

“She’s only thirty-two!”

“Oh my goodness, you’re insane!” Nikki shouted. Her mind was running in a million different directions. What could her son possibly see in a woman like that? “You can’t even tell me the truth about how you two met.”

“I did tell you the truth! We really did have a class together, and we ran into each other at the tattoo parlor where she works.”

Nikki crossed her arms, giving her son a serious death stare. She really did feel like she was arguing with a young, childish version of her son. Like he was ten years old again, and he was insisting on having another cookie from the cookie jar. “Did you get a tattoo?” Nikki asked.

“Yes!” he snapped. “Not that it’s any of your business. I don’t need your permission.”

“You don’t need my permission? Do you realize how childish you sound right now?” Nikki asked. She lowered her arms to her side, flexing her hands to keep herself from shaking. “What tattoo did you even get? Where?” Nikki then paused and held up a palm in his face. “You know what? I don’t want to know! I’m sure it’s something trashy!”

“Dad has tattoos, and you never seemed to mind that,” he snarled. “Not until after he left, that is.”

“This is not about your father; it’s about you! I didn’t realize you went to college just to goof off,” she declared.

Seth rolled up his right sleeve and held out his arm. “I’m not goofing off. And this tattoo isn’t trashy!”

Nikki frowned and took a peek. In lovely writing were the words Wherever the art of medicine is loved, there is also a love of humanity. Nikki crossed her arms again. “It’s a nice quote,” she said, but she was still fuming.

“I thought so. I haven’t told you yet, but I got accepted into the school’s medical program. I got the tattoo to celebrate. It’s a quote by Hippocrates, and I like it,” he declared, rolling his sleeve back down.

Nikki took a breath. “I didn’t know you got accepted into the program. Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I was going to tell you today, but then you got all weird with Jackie,” he said.

“Of course I got weird!” Nikki exclaimed. “Just be honest with me, Seth. How did this even happen?”

“She did the tattoo, okay?” he snapped, raising his voice this time.

Nikki scowled. She did not care for Seth’s tone. “And you just decided to ask out your tattoo artist?”

“No, she asked me out,” he said.

“Of course she did!”

“Mom, chill!” he demanded. “Look, I didn’t exactly have some romantic crush on her or anything. But just because I’m not super attracted to her in that way doesn’t mean we’re not close! She asked me out, and it’s been so long since I dated that I just decided to give it a shot and see what happens.”

“You gave it a shot all right–you decided to give a cougar a shot!”

“A cougar! Are you kidding me, Mom? She’s a nice woman, and she’s our guest. You need to knock it off right now, or I’ll leave and you can spend Thanksgiving by yourself!” he roared, and then Nikki and Seth both heard the sound of someone clearing their throat.

Nikki spun around to see Tori standing behind her with a small suitcase thrown over her shoulder. The girl’s face was bright red as she stammered, “I, um…well, the door was unlocked. I’m sorry, I should have knocked.”

Great, Nikki thought. She couldn’t imagine what all Tori had just heard. “Hey, Tori,” Nikki muttered.

“I’m sorry,” Tori mumbled. “I interrupted something, obviously. Um…I can leave. Or wait outside. Or I could just-”

“It’s okay,” Nikki assured. “Let me get you set up in the guest room, Tori.”

“Guest room?” Seth questioned and glared at Nikki. “You cleared out your office, huh?”

“I did,” Nikki said.

“And you didn’t mention that earlier when Hawk drove Jackie off because we didn’t have room, huh?” Seth questioned.

Nikki glared back at Seth. “Must have slipped my mind.”

Seth rolled his eyes. “I’m sure it did. I’m going to bed. Goodnight!” he shouted and turned around, snatched up his suitcase and disappeared towards the back of the house.

“Should I leave?” Tori asked quietly.

“No, don’t you do that,” Nikki insisted. “We just had a little…argument, is all. Let’s get you set up. I’m really happy to have you spending the Thanksgiving break with us.”

“I’m looking forward to it,” Tori said.

Nikki led Tori to the back hall. She opened up the door to her office which now consisted of a smaller desk, a little twin-sized bed, and a dresser with a tall mirror. “Think this will do?” Nikki asked, and Tori smiled.

“Oh, I think so,” she said. “Thanks, Nikki. Um, is everything okay between you and your son? What’s going on?”

“Oh, he brought home a date,” Nikki said.

“That’s nice,” said Tori.

“She’s thirty-two,” Nikki said.

Tori’s face turned red. “Really?”

“Really,” Nikki said, shaking her head. “I don’t know what to do. I think I overstepped my bounds a little bit. He’s pretty mad at me. I probably shouldn’t have called her a cougar.”

“To her face?” Tori shrieked.

“No, of course not! I’m not that rude. Just when Seth and I started arguing,” Nikki said, shaking her head. “It’s been a long night, Tori, so I think I’m going to go to bed. If you need anything, just let me know. Make yourself comfortable.”

Tori nodded and smiled. “Thank you again for inviting me to spend the holiday with you, Nikki.”

Nikki nodded and smiled. “Of course, Tori.”

Ch5

After having such an unpleasant first meeting with her son after a long absence, Nikki decided she was going to make the best of the start of a new day. She arose early that next morning and got to work on creating a feast for breakfast. Normally, she would take the lazy way out as far as cooking goes the week of Thanksgiving so as to reserve her energy for the biggest cooking day of the year, but not this morning. She pulled out all the stops, running down the street to get some fresh blueberries from the local shop to make her famous blueberry pancakes.

Nikki also prepared some hearty bacon, biscuits, and omelets filled with ham and bits of freshly chopped ingredients. The smell alone was enough to rouse both Tori and Seth from their bedrooms. Seth’s hair was messy and uncombed, but his eyes were wide with excitement at the decadent smell spreading throughout the house. Tori had taken slightly more time to make herself presentable before leaving the guest room, pulling up her pretty blonde hair in a ponytail so as not to make it too obvious that she had yet to have a shower; she had also thrown on a pair of yoga pants and a t-shirt.

“Okay, if this is what it’s going to smell like in here every morning, I’m never skipping breakfast,” Tori teased, plopping herself down on a stool by the kitchen island so that she could watch Nikki finish up with the omelets.

“Awe, man, you made your blueberry pancakes,” Seth said excitedly, already grabbing a plate from the cabinets. Seth gazed across the kitchen counter at the platter of breakfast dishes, and Nikki could see him lick his lips slightly. “Geez, Mom, is there anything left in the pantry at all? This is quite a spread.” He smiled at her, and Nikki smiled as well. It was a silent way of apologizing to one another without actually having to say it.

The three of them each made a plate and then wandered over to the little kitchen table that sat by the windows overlooking the vegetable garden in her tiny little yard. The next fifteen minutes or so were lovely. Seth spoke about college, and he had so many stories to tell. Nikki laughed and exchanged a few stories of her own, and poor Tori sat quietly and embarrassingly added in a remark every once in a while. Tori was still shy despite having gotten used to working the counters at the chocolate shop.

“So, Tori,” Seth said, pulling Tori out of her little comfort zone in the corner chair, “how do you like working for my mom?”

Tori smiled. “Your mom is great. She sure does make it fun.”

“I’m going to have to try one of those chocolate turkeys you made last night,” Seth said, giving Nikki a grin. “Jackie made them look good. They, um, weren’t for a customer or anything, right?”

Nikki laughed. “No, they weren’t, thankfully. They were for you all.”

“I’m sorry about that,” Seth said. “She probably should have asked.”

Nikki sighed. “Honestly, Seth, I probably just made her so nervous that she wasn’t thinking. I could have been a little more open-minded.”

There was a knock on the door, and Seth leaped up out of his seat. Nikki frowned; he seemed far too eager. “Hey, Jackie and Hawk are here!” Seth called from the foyer.

“Something smells amazing!” Jackie’s voice could be heard.

Nikki felt Tori pop her in the arm, and when she looked at her, Tori was waving a hand in front of her face. Tori’s face went from a scowl to a smile–her silent way of telling Nikki to play nice. “Thanks,” Nikki murmured, not realizing she had instinctually gone back to a grimace upon hearing the woman’s voice.

She forced a smile just as Hawk and Jackie were walking in from the foyer into the kitchen. “You two have breakfast yet?” Nikki asked. “Go ahead and make yourselves a plate.”

“Don’t mind if I do!” Jackie exclaimed, all smiles. The woman had clearly slept off whatever foulness had formed between the group the previous evening. She, much like Nikki, seemed ready for a fresh start. “My goodness, did you make all this? Everything looks amazing!”

“Thank you, Jackie,” Nikki said. Hawk did not make himself a plate. He stood with a concerned scowl, and with the way he was standing in the archway of the kitchen instead of coming over, Nikki could tell he was not planning on staying for breakfast. “Everything okay, Hawk?”

“Not really,” he said. “Just got a call, and I got to go. A dead body was found in the park.”

“Oh no!” Tori exclaimed.

Nikki pushed her plate aside and rose to her feet. “You going to the scene now?” she asked.

“About to head that way,” he said.

“You know I’m coming with you, then,” Nikki declared.

Hawk nodded, a sad smile appearing on his face. “You know I need my little super sleuth.”

“Okay, we’ll come too,” Seth said and started to put away his food as well.

Nikki shook her head. “Oh, no you don’t. There’s no need for that. You’re staying right here.”

“Um, no, I don’t think so,” Seth argued. “I’m going with you.”

“No, you’re not, Seth,” Nikki said.

“Yes, I am,” he stated boldly.

Before they could get into yet another argument, Jackie reached out and touched Seth’s forearm. “Seth, listen to your mother. From what you’ve told me about her, she has experience with this sort of thing. You don’t, and there’s no reason for you to see a gruesome scene at the park. She’s just trying to protect you. Don’t be so stubborn.”

Nikki smiled. “Thank you, Jackie. I appreciate that.”

“Besides,” Jacki added, lowering her arm, “I definitely don’t want to see that, and it would be nice if you and I could enjoy this nice breakfast together that your mom obviously worked hard to prepare.”

Seth frowned and muttered, “Fine.”

Nikki grabbed her coat and then followed Hawk outside towards his patrol car. Nikki plopped down in the passenger’s seat and exhaled loudly. “Rough morning?” Hawk asked as he slipped into the driver’s seat.

“Not really,” she admitted. “Nothing compared to last night. Seth and I got into it after you two left. I may have called his girlfriend a cougar, I don’t know. I think I blacked out for a minute there I was so frustrated.”

“A cougar? Really, Nikki?” Hawk scorned her as he cranked up the car and pulled out of the driveway. “I wouldn’t call her a cougar. She’s older, sure, but it’s not like he’s dating someone our age.”

“He might as well be,” Nikki mumbled. She shook her head. “I think I may have prejudged her too quickly, though. I mean, she seems okay. If anything she seems to just be embarrassed by the way I acted. How did she seem to you after you got back to your place?”

“We didn’t really talk much. I asked her about her job, and to be honest, she talks more like an artist than a tattoo shop worker. She did show me a sketchbook she keeps for new tattoo design ideas. It was pretty impressive. An artist and a future doctor—they say opposites attract, you know?” Hawk reached over and touched her hand, giving it a slight squeeze. “He could do worse for himself, you know?”

“I know,” Nikki said. “I’m just being a mom. Why not date someone his own age?”

“Would you prefer a nice older woman who honestly seems to care about Seth or some ditsy college freshman who’s rushing some sorority and not paying any mind to her studies?” Hawk asked.

“I suppose the first one,” Nikki said with a moan. “Okay, forget about Seth and Jackie for a minute. What do you got for me as far as this case goes?”

“Nothing yet,” Hawk said. “Only that a body was found in the park and they need me there.”

“Great.” Nikki leaned back in her seat and closed her eyes for a moment. A few minutes passed, and soon they arrived at the Maple Hills Park. There were several other officers already on the scene when they arrived.

Just inside the park’s main entrance was a bench that was now surrounded by yellow crime scene tape. Nikki walked alongside Hawk as they made their way over to the scene of the crime. The setting was a bit surreal. Several trees circled the bench, all adorned with bright red and orange leaves, seemingly the only trees in the park that were still managing to hold onto their leaves after several nights of below-freezing temperatures. Large piles of fallen leaves sat on either side of the bench, and Nikki got a good look at the dead man sitting upright on the bench, his hands folded neatly over his stomach.

Upon first glance, it would almost seem as though the man had taken a stroll and had fallen asleep after taking a rest. As they drew closer, though, Nikki could see that the body had been mutilated. She felt a tickle in her throat, and she gagged slightly. The man’s throat was purple and was very swollen, and his chest and stomach were covered in stab wounds. The man’s hands covered the most brutal of his wounds. “He was clearly moved to the bench postmortem,” Hawk said. “His hands and arms have been moved perfectly to cover most of his wounds. Looks to be about thirty-five, maybe?”

One of the other officers nodded. “I think so.” The man turned and nodded to Nikki. Most of the police in the area knew her by now–the chocolate shop lady whose father had worked in the FBI. She had given up on that dream of following in her father’s footsteps after meeting Seth’s father, but now ever since moving to Maple Hills, it was as though she was being given second chances to pursue that old dream. She had solved several murders alongside Hawk, and she was ready to do it again.

Nikki looked towards the sidewalk and saw a small cluster of joggers. “Witnesses?” Nikki asked the on-scene officer.

“They’re the ones who called it in,” he confirmed.

Nikki tapped Hawk’s shoulder to let him know she was leaving the crime scene, and he nodded approvingly. While Hawk walked around the crime scene in search for evidence, Nikki headed over to the group of joggers. “Did you folks see anything?” she asked.

There were four joggers total: three women and a man all dressed in tight spandex. The man shrugged slightly, but he spoke. “We just thought he was sleeping at first, but honestly we were pretty loud, and we circled around the park twice. We thought he was just some homeless man catching up on his sleep in the park. We figured we should have woken him up from all the noise we were making, and so Katie went to check on him. We thought maybe he had had a heart attack.”

“Which one of you is Katie?” Nikki asked.

The shortest of the three women perked up slightly. “Um, that’s me,” she said.

“Did you see or notice anything?” Nikki asked.

“I just went and tapped on his shoulder, and when he didn’t move, I bent down to look at his face and saw the bruising around his neck. It looked like someone had strangled him, and then I saw there was blood. I freaked out after realizing he was dead; that’s when we called the police.”

“Did you see anyone else in the park this morning?” Nikki asked them, but none of them had. She asked several more questions, but they did not lead to anything ground-breaking. She thanked the joggers and assured them that one of the officers would get their official statements in a moment. Nikki headed back towards the crime scene, but she was a bit nervous to do so. Something about this murder made her stomach start doing flips.

“They have anything useful for me?” Hawk asked as he stood upright to greet her.

“Not really,” she said. “Doesn’t sound like anyone else was in the park this morning. They said they got here at nearly six am and never saw anyone other than our victim.”

“Well, the man did have a driver’s license on him, so we got an identification at least,” Hawk said.

“What’s his name?” Nikki asked, trying not to look in the direction of the corpse.

“Howard Blanche.”

Chapter Five

Nikki and Hawk arrived outside of a local Maple Hills apartment complex only a few hours after their investigation began at the park. They had been able to locate an address of an apartment complex called Sunnyside Hills where Howard Blanche had been renting an apartment with his girlfriend, Taylor Perkins. Taylor, as far as the detectives working alongside Hawk could say, was the only person that Blanche had any contact with in Maple Hills.

“Does she know we’re coming?” Nikki asked as she climbed out of Hawk’s patrol car.

“No, and she doesn’t know about Howard yet,” Hawk said.

“Great,” Nikki grumbled; the thought of having to be the ones to break the terrible news made her skin crawl. They headed to the furthest building from the complex’s entryway and up the exterior staircase toward the second floor.

Their destination was the third door down, and Hawk paused before knocking. “I don’t like being the one to have to tell the loved ones,” he admitted.

Nikki did not say anything; she simply nodded in agreement and pulled her coat tighter. Hawk knocked twice, and then the door abruptly swung open. “Oh!” a woman exclaimed. She was tall, incredibly slender, and looked to be in her thirties close to the same age as the victim. “Sorry, thought you were someone else.” She had an annoyed look about her; clearly, she had expected her boyfriend home long before now.

“Ms. Perkins?” Hawk asked politely.

“Yes?” she questioned, looking Hawk up and down to deduce that he was an officer. She frowned. “Is everything all right?”

Hawk’s voice was smooth, calming, and he spoke with a sincerity that Nikki admired. “I’m afraid not, Ms. Perkins. You are the girlfriend of a Howard Blanche, correct?”

“Yes, that’s right. Why, what’s wrong?” she demanded.

“I’m sorry, miss, but Howard was found dead this morning in Maple Hills Park,” Hawk said, and the woman’s face contorted horribly.

“Dead? What do you mean dead?”

Again, Hawk spoke with an extreme calmness and in an empathetic tone. “I’m so sorry, Ms. Perkins. I know this is quite a shock and that you may need a moment, but would you mind if my colleague and I came inside? We’d like to speak to you about Howard and ask some questions so maybe we can piece together what exactly happened.”

The woman nodded, and Nikki could see a few tears starting to stroll down the woman’s face. She stepped aside so they could enter the little apartment, and Nikki could hear the woman sobbing now. Nikki looked back over her shoulder as Taylor closed the door behind her, wiping her face with her sleeve. “Excuse me for a second,” she said and vanished back into the bedroom for a moment.

Nikki and Hawk took a moment to examine the living space of the little apartment. There was a living room and kitchen and a door leading to a bathroom. There were not many personal touches, but based on the small cardboard box shoved in the corner, it seemed as though the pair had only just moved in recently. There was one picture frame hanging next to the television, and it depicted Taylor and Howard smiling together, their faces just barely fitting into the frame.

Taylor reemerged only a few minutes later after having given herself a moment to pull herself together. She sat down on the couch, a box of tissues in hand, and asked, “What happened?”

Hawk went on to explain the unpleasant details, leaving out what he could while still remaining honest. Taylor looked absolutely mortified, and so Nikki sat herself down beside the woman and attempted to offer some comfort.

“Someone killed him?” Taylor asked for confirmation after hearing that her boyfriend had been stabbed several times and possibly strangled.

“I’m afraid so,” Hawk said. “Is there anything you can tell us about Howard that might help us figure out who did this?”

Taylor’s head seemed to sway about a bit as she took it all in. She breathed deeply, and she choked on her words. Nikki reached over and placed a consoling hand over on the woman’s shoulder. After a moment, Taylor spoke with a bit more clarity. “I don’t know if I can be of much help. Howard, well, he was never too kind to strangers, I’ll admit. But he was a good soul deep down. A good man. He just moved here to be with me, and we started renting this apartment. I thought that maybe if I, you know, introduced him to enough people around Maple Hills that he’d become more comfortable with people. That they would accept him. Now I’ll never get the chance.”

“Well, Taylor, if Howard was the good person you knew him to be, you can rest knowing that he must be in a better place now,” Nikki said, and Taylor smiled at this.

“Yes, I’m sure he will end up where he has always deserved,” she said, still smiling behind those broken eyes.

“Would you mind if I looked around, Ms. Perkins?” Howard asked. “Just to see if there’s anything I can find that would indicate who did this?”

“I don’t see why not,” Taylor responded and then slumped down deeper into the couch, releasing a loud exasperated sigh.

Hawk seemed to almost instantly disappear, not that there was much to look at. The only other room apart from the living area and kitchen seemed to be the bedroom. Nikki sat with Taylor, and the two women began chatting about Howard. Taylor spoke on and on about how fun of a person Howard was and how kind and sweet he was. The woman admitted that he was not exactly well loved by everyone, but to think that he had someone who would want to kill him seemed very far-fetched to Taylor. “You look familiar to me,” Taylor said once she had calmed herself down. “You own that little chocolate shop on Main Street, don’t you?”

Nikki smiled. “You’ve been to my shop?”

“Yes. I bought some chocolates from you just the other day,” Taylor said.

Nikki thought for a moment and then nodded. She recalled the incredibly busy day they had had, but after a moment she did indeed recognize Taylor’s face. “That’s right, you ordered a dozen of the pumpkin cream stuffed chocolate bites.”

“They were just wonderful!” Taylor exclaimed and then lowered her voice. “Sorry. I’m a chocolate girl, and I can get a little excited about my sweets. That Howard! My goodness, he ate all of my chocolates I got from you and didn’t save me but a bite!” Taylor laughed a bit and then shook her head. “I really liked your little treat, though. The pumpkin flavor was very subtle, hardly noticeable, but it was just enough for an extra kick.”

“I’m glad you and Howard enjoyed them,” Nikki said, glad to see that a slight smile had appeared on Taylor’s face.

“So, where was Howard working, Taylor?” Nikki asked.

“Oh, he worked across town at Lucky Aid Insurance. He used to have to commute over an hour to get there. He was really glad that we got this apartment. Cut his commute in half,” Taylor said.

Before their conversation could go further, Hawk reemerged from the bedroom. He had a quizzical look about him as he went back into the bathroom for the second time, returning moments later with the same look of confusion. “Everything okay, Hawk?” Nikki asked.

“Ms. Perkins, do you mind if I ask you an unusual question?”

Taylor exhaled, a slight chuckle emerging due to Hawk’s unusual phrasing. “Um, okay?”

“Why did you and Howard have two different bathrooms?” he questioned. “I mean, you obviously used the one that juts off the bedroom, and then Howard used this one here, right?” he asked, waving his hand toward the bathroom that could be accessed from the den.

“Good question,” Taylor said. “When we started looking for apartments, that was one thing Howard really wanted. He wanted a place with two bathrooms. I guess he liked his privacy.”

“So,” Hawk said, still looking a little confused, “you two share a bedroom, a kitchen, and a living space but not the bathroom? You only used the bathroom back in your room, and this room was just for Howard, right?”

“Right,” she said.

Nikki could not quite figure out what had Hawk so bothered by this. Sure, it was a little unusual, but some people just needed their privacy. “What are you getting at, Hawk?” Nikki asked.

“Ms. Perkins, do you know what is inside the safe in Howard’s bathroom?” he asked.

Taylor frowned. “What safe?” she asked.

“The safe under his sink in the bathroom,” he said.

Taylor rose from her seat and walked past Hawk into Howard’s bathroom to investigate. She came out a moment later looking just as confused as Hawk. “I didn’t know he had a safe,” she admitted. “I never went in his bathroom. I didn’t have a reason to.”

“You never thought that it was a little strange that the two of you would have separate bathrooms?” Hawk asked.

Taylor crossed her arms, a look of annoyance appeared on her face. “No, I didn’t. Howard was always up really early because of his job, so he wanted to have an apartment that had a separate bathroom so he wouldn’t wake me up getting ready. I think it was considerate, if you ask me. It’s not weird or suspicious like what you seem to be suggesting.”

Nikki stood up, coming close to cutting Hawk off before he said something to set Taylor off even further, but he spoke before she had a chance to stop him. “Ms. Perkins, did Howard have any sort of dangerous hobbies or affiliations we should know about? Maybe something that could have resulted in his murder?”

“Excuse me!” Taylor yelped. “What are you accusing Howard of? You know what? Don’t answer that! You two can just get out of my apartment right now!” she pointed toward the door.

“Ms. Perkins-” Hawk started to protest.

“Get out!” she screamed. “Now!”

Nikki hooked her arm into Hawk’s and gave him a slight tug. She wished she had told him to back off sooner; Hawk was a professional, but sometimes he had a harder time picking up on when people had had enough. “Come on, let’s leave her alone. Taylor, if you can think of anything that might be of use, please call the local department. You will likely be receiving a call from the local coroner today about what you would like to have done for Howard.”

“Thanks,” Taylor quipped and slammed the door shut behind them.

“I put my foot in my mouth, didn’t I?” Hawk asked once they were outside.

“Yes, you did,” Nikki replied. “You probably should have treaded a little more lightly when you started asking about Howard’s hobbies. She was pretty clearly distraught already.”

“I know. I got carried away,” Hawk admitted. “Now I don’t know what to do. I guess we could talk to the forensic pathologist to see what he can tell us about exactly how Howard died.”

“Or we could go to Howard’s place of employment and interview people there?” Nikki suggested.

“Did Taylor tell you where he worked?” Hawk asked proudly.

“Yup,” Nikki said and smiled slightly at him. “Lucky Aid Insurance Agency.”

Chapter Six

“Yeah, so, if you could just let me know about what time you’ll be heading back…you know…just when you get a chance. Talk to you later, Mom,” Seth’s voice spoke in broken sentences over the speaker on Nikki’s cell phone as she replayed his voicemail.

Nikki was seated in the passenger’s seat of Hawk’s patrol car as they made their way across town to Lucky Aid Insurance; Seth had called her only a minute before, but she had chosen to let the call go to voicemail. “You know, avoiding talking to your son is not going to solve anything, Nikki. You can’t just keep ignoring him just because he brought home someone you don’t really approve of.”

Nikki cocked her head swiftly in Hawk’s direction, narrowing her eyes into an annoyed gaze. “That’s not it at all, Hawk!” she declared.

He laughed at her. “Oh? Really? That’s not it? Okay, Nikki, why don’t you tell me why it is you didn’t answer your son’s call then?”

“I will!” she said. “I just don’t want to be distracted while we’re investigating. Ignoring Seth’s call has nothing to do with Jackie. I need to stay focused. I’ve never really been the type of woman to rest until a case is solved, and you know that.”

Hawk sighed and removed the smug look from his brow. “Okay, you’re right. I’m sorry for assuming it was something else. I struggle with the same sort of thing in my line of work, you know?”

“I know. I just want to try to solve this case before Thanksgiving so that I won’t be distracted,” Nikki said. “I’ll drive myself crazy trying to cook an entire Thanksgiving meal while I’m worried about what happened to Howard Blanche.”

“I want to know what Howard’s got hidden away in his safe. No healthy couple splits off their bathrooms like that. Something more was going on with Taylor and Howard than she let on,” Hawk said with a grimace.

They arrived outside of Lucky Aid Insurance, and Hawk huffed slightly at the run-down building. “This looks like the sketchiest insurance agency I have ever seen,” he said. “I wonder if they’re even legitimate.”

“Now, now,” Nikki scolded. “You shouldn’t judge a business just because the outside of the building is a little…crumbly…and…”

“Methy,” Hawk said. “Seriously, it looks like we are about to do a drug bust. The sign is literally just their name spray painted up on the cement above the doorframe!”

Nikki laughed, having just noticed the makeshift sign displaying the company’s name. “Oh my goodness,” she said and had to cover her mouth to keep from laughing. “I think they spelled insurance wrong! They left out the E!”

Hawk whipped out his cell phone and called one of the researchers down at the station. “Hey, Heather,” he spoke into the phone. “I need a quick favor. Pull up what you can about a Lucky Aid Insurance Agency. I want to know whether or not it’s a legitimate company and…oh? You use them? Really?” Hawk frowned. “And they’re legitimate? No, I’m sitting out here right now and the place looks like…. Oh…a tornado? Really? Okay, my bad. Awfully ironic for an insurance agency; did they have insurance? Ha! Hello? Heather?” Hawk hung up the phone and blushed slightly as he looked at Nikki. “She called me stupid and hung up.”

“That was a really lame joke, Hawk,” Nikki teased. “So what happened? Their building got hit by a tornado?”

“Last year. They’re still remodeling apparently,” Hawk said. “No wonder it looks like the building is falling apart. Come on, let’s go.”

“What did we learn about judging a book by its cover?” Nikki continued to tease him as they got out of the car.

“Oh, come on, you and I both know this place looked sketchy when we first pulled up,” Hawk said.

They headed inside, and they could tell from here that the building had once been much nicer. The inside did not seem damaged at all, and from where they stood, you would never have guessed the place had been hit by a storm. When they first entered, a young, smiling woman in a suit greeted them from behind a large receptionist desk. “Welcome to Lucky Aid Insurance Agency. What can I do for you folks?”

“We’d like to speak to some of the employees here about a Howard Blanche,” Nikki said.

The woman’s face instantly distorted into one of absolute disgust. “Oh? Well, sure, go right ahead. Everyone’s in the break room right now. Um, what is this about exactly? Howard hasn’t worked here in a year.”

Nikki and Hawk exchanged glances. “A year?” Hawk questioned.

“Yeah, after the tornado that hit this place, the boss had to let a few people go to cover his losses. Howard was the first,” the woman said.

“I appreciate the information, Miss…?”

“Brittany Anders,” she said and smiled.

“Thank you, Miss Anders,” Hawk said and summoned Nikki with a tilt of his head. The two of them walked past the receptionist desk and down the hall until they found the large breakroom Brittany had been referring to.

One man jumped up from his seat when they entered, tossing his lunch into a nearby trash bin. “Hello, welcome to Lucky Aid Insurance Agency. The name’s Randy. You two here for-”

Nikki held up her hand to slow down the sales pitch that she sensed was coming her way. “We’re not here to shop for insurance.”

“We’re here to talk about Howard Blanche,” Hawk flashed his badge. “He was found dead this morning at Maple Hills Park.”

The room was very quiet. One insurance agent, the only woman in the room, stood up. She seemed rather unmoved by the news. “Sorry, I got a phone call I’m about to be late for, fellas. I’ll be at my desk if you need me,” she said and whipped out of the room with her nose up in the air, leaving behind a group of four men in suits.

“What happened to Howard?” the man who had first greeted them asked.

“Howard Blanche was stabbed to death and left on display at Maple Hills Park,” Hawk said. “My name is Detective Hawk Bailey, and I’m heading up the investigation. If there is anything you gentlemen could tell me about Howard, it would be appreciated.”

The men exchanged glances. One man, a gentleman with a perfectly round face and a balding head, shrugged. “Never really spoke much to Howard,” he said. “I know he used to head down to the bar down the street just about every night he got off work to wind down. But I didn’t know the man personally.”

The other men seemed to have similar sentiments. “He never spoke to me much,” said one.

“Me either,” said another. “He was the kind of man who kept to himself. Wasn’t really ever that friendly of a guy. I say that, but it’s not like he ever caused a scene or stirred the pot. Like, I mean, he didn’t have any enemies, I guess. Just no friends. Only acquaintances.”

“You know,” said the skinniest of the men. “I always saw him talking with Brittany, the receptionist. They always seemed so serious when they talked. She might know something.”

“I used to see him talking a good bit with Stacey,” said the round man. “That’s the woman who just left.”

“I think we should go talk to Brittany and Stacey,” Nikki suggested, and Hawk nodded in agreement, but not before thanking the men and getting the name of the bar they all agreed he frequented.

They glanced towards the receptionist’s desk where they spotted Stacey speaking with Brittany. Both women looked incredibly flustered and annoyed. “I think they know something their co-workers don’t,” Nikki whispered.

“Same here,” Hawk said.

The two of them headed over to the receptionist desk, and the women glanced up with annoyed faces. “Everything all right?” Nikki asked.

“Just talking about our old buddy, Howard,” Brittany said with distaste. “Sorry to hear he’s dead.”

“No offense, ladies, but you don’t sound that sorry,” Hawk said.

“It’s just a little weird, honestly,” Stacey admitted. “To hear that someone you couldn’t stand is dead and not knowing whether or not to feel sorry for the guy or a little relieved. I don’t mean to sound cold, but Howard was a total nightmare.”

“How so?” Nikki asked.

“I think you could just consult the HR department and get a good idea,” Brittany huffed. “I think I reported him twice.”

“Four times for me,” Stacey said. “But they never did anything because he would always smooth talk his way out of crap.”

“What sort of problems were you ladies having with Mr. Blanche?” Hawk asked.

“Mostly just the sort of stuff that came out of his mouth,” Brittany said. “Just outright vulgar sexism and sexual harassment. He asked me if I had a boob job once and told me he wanted to take a peek.”

“Oh, dear,” Nikki blushed.

“He told Brittany once that the only way I must have managed to get promoted to senior agent was because I must have slept with someone,” Stacey said with a firm frown. “And the only thing that finally got rid of him was when he finally put his hands on me in the breakroom, and thankfully they have a camera in there. He grabbed my breast after I told him to back off.”

“Oh, wow, I’m so sorry you had to deal with that,” Hawk said. “But, correct me if I’m wrong, but your male co-workers all seem to think that Hawk was laid off because of the cutbacks after the tornado.”

“On paper, that’s what it says,” Stacey griped. “The company’s owner and Howard kind of go back. He knew he had to let Howard go after what happened with me, but since I agreed to drop charges if he was fired, well, boss-man pulled one over my eyes. He just laid Howard off so that it wouldn’t ruin his job history. That way if Howard ever started looking for another job, his new boss would just think he got laid off with the other employees who got tanked after the tornado.”

“And you didn’t ever try to do anything about that?” Nikki asked.

“Howard was gone and out of my hair,” Stacey said. “I’m not exactly a big social justice warrior. Plus, the man up top gave me a pretty big bonus to get me to drop it. Howard was gone, and I get two extra weeks of vacation time a year plus a ten percent increase on my commission. I can’t really complain. It worked out in my favor.”

“This version of Howard Blanche is quite a different picture you two ladies are painting compared to what his girlfriend tried to tell us,” Hawk said.

“Girlfriend?” Brittany questioned. “Poor woman. I bet that was pretty miserable.”

Nikki scribbled down her phone number using the sticky notes sitting on Brittany’s desk. She gave a copy to both Stacey and to Nikki. “If you ladies can think of anything else–anything at all that could help–would you mind giving Hawk or me a call?”

The women both shrugged; Nikki was fairly certain that they wouldn’t get any more help from them. They both seemed cruelly relieved to hear that Howard was gone. Brittany was, however, kind enough to give Hawk the phone number to their HR department so that he could confirm everything that Brittany and Stacey had said.

Nikki and Hawk left the agency, agreeing that their next stop was Howard’s old bar hangout down the street.

Chapter Seven

When Nikki and Hawk pulled up outside of the dive bar, she was beginning to get a good picture of the sort of character Howard Blanche really was. The bar looked like a likely hangout for questionable characters, and based on the group of men with the shaved heads and unsavory skull and neo-Nazi tattoos standing outside, she was certain this was not a case of “don’t judge a book by its cover,” as it had been with the insurance agency.

“Maybe you should stay in the car,” Hawk suggested, and Nikki rolled her eyes.

“No, I’m going with you,” she insisted. “You might need backup.”

“Oh, and you’re my backup?” he asked.

“Something tells me a man in uniform is not going to be very welcomed here,” she said.

Hawk nodded and slowly exited the vehicle, Nikki trailing behind. The two of them headed up to the building, and the group of men stared at them. “Looking for something?” the man in the leather jacket asked.

“Looking for information,” Hawk said, “on a Howard Blanche.”

The man scowled. “That creep? Why, what did he do this time?”

“He’s dead,” Hawk said.

“Ha!” the man exclaimed and turned to his friends. “Better go inside, boys. Soon as Misty finds out, she’s likely to buy the whole bar drinks!”

Lovely, Nikki thought with disdain. “I’m guessing you all weren’t particularly close with Mr. Blanche?” Nikki asked.

“Are you kidding?” a shorter man standing behind the leather-jacket gentleman quipped. “How many times have we had to drag that drunk out of here? He was always picking fights in here, and we don’t put up with that.”

“Really?” Nikki asked, letting the sarcasm slip out of her mouth uncontrollably.

“Got something to say to us, sugar?” Leather-jacket asked.

“No,” Hawk answered for her. “So, you’re telling me Mr. Blanche had quite a few enemies here, am I right?”

“He had enemies everywhere,” said the shorter man. “But you ought to go talk to Misty; she’s one of the bartenders here. She could talk your ear off about Blanche.”

“Thank you, gentleman,” Hawk said and led Nikki inside. He whispered to her, “How about we try not to tick off the Nazis?”

“Sorry,” she mumbled. “Hard to imagine what kind of person would want to pick a fight with them.”

They got a few stares when they entered the bar, but the patrons seemed to be mostly elderly men–former military men. They approached the bar, and a young male bartender was waiting for them. He looked at them cautiously and asked, “What can I get for you today?”

“We were hoping you could answer some questions about a Howard Blanche. We were told a Misty would know a good bit about him?” Nikki asked.

The man rolled his eyes. “He hasn’t been in here in months. Whatever he did, it wasn’t because I over-served him.”

“You’re awfully presumptuous,” Nikki said. “What makes you so certain that he did something?”

“Um, because it’s Howard,” the bartender said. “Do you have any idea how many times I’ve had to call the cops to come get him? And having the cops around my particular guests is not good for business.”

“So he caused you a lot of trouble?” Hawk asked. “What is your name?”

“Randy,” he said. “And, yeah, Howard caused everyone trouble. The guy was a misanthropist if I’ve ever seen one. He hated everyone, and everyone hated him. He was always just looking for a fight. And ladies would turn around and leave if they saw he was here. Bad for business.”

A young woman appeared from behind a curtain that led to the back of the bar. She crinkled up her nose after seeing an officer standing by the bar. “Everything all right?” she asked.

Randy nodded and waved her over. “This is Misty. She could tell you a lot more about Howard than I could.”

“Please tell me you don’t mean Howard Blanche?” she snarled.

“Must be quite notorious around here,” Nikki said.

“What did he do?” Misty asked.

“As far as we know, nothing. He was found dead in Maple Hills Park this morning,” Hawk said.

Misty smirked slightly. “What a shame,” she said.

“You don’t sound too upset,” Hawk said.

“Should I be?” Misty asked. “Look, the man was a creep. He came in here picking fights, and the women! He would come in here flirting with women, particularly those who were obviously uninterested. He harassed them and called them vulgar names when they turned him down. He even threatened to kill some just because they didn’t want to go home with some random guy who was drunk out of his mind.”

“Don’t forget about that poor girl he chased into the bathroom!” one of the old men down at the end of the bar called.

“What is that about?” Hawk asked Misty.

She rolled her eyes. “We got him before he did anything, but yeah. He grabbed at this woman and forced her into the bathroom. That was the last straw. We told him he wasn’t allowed back, and if he ever came back, we’d call the police. End of story, no more Howard Blanche. He had probably found another bar of patrons to harass. If you ask me, good riddance.”

“Was there ever anyone in particular you can think of who might have had a grudge towards Howard? Maybe someone he really got to?” Hawk asked.

“I’m sure there’s a whole list of them,” Randy said. “The man drove everyone insane. There is not a single person in this bar who won’t cringe at hearing that man’s name. He knew how to make enemies, and he made them easily. You want a list of potential suspects? Try looking at the past five years of our customer base because every single time he entered this bar, he managed to tick somebody off.”

“Yeah,” Misty agreed. “Kind of hard to just narrow it down. I suppose he could have pushed just about anyone over the edge. If you were to ask me, I’d say it was a woman.”

“A woman?” Hawk asked. “Why?”

“Have you not been listening?” Misty asked. “He picked fights with men, of course, but it’s the women he really enjoyed harassing. He used to ask me about my sex life; he would say some of the filthiest things! And it certainly wasn’t just me. He harassed every single female who came into this bar, single or not. Interested or not. Drunk or sober. It didn’t matter. If it was a woman, he was going to hit on her, cuss her out, or just generally make her uncomfortable. The man was a perverted misogynist who thought he was God’s gift to women. Well, he was far from it. I guarantee you it was a woman.”

“Well, thank you for your information,” Hawk said. It didn’t seem like they were getting any specific information from Misty or from Randy; they had only reaffirmed what Hawk and Nikki already knew: Howard was a pervert who loved to harass women. They stepped away from the bar. “What do you think?” Hawk asked as they headed for the exit.

“I think that whatever good that Taylor supposedly found in Howard was either ridiculously deep down or it was completely non-existent,” Nikki said. “I think when you get that warrant to open up Howard’s safe, we should speak to Taylor again. Let her know that we are aware that Howard was not the little angel she made him out to be. Maybe we can get her to open up. I think she might have built up a fantasy for herself.”

“Sounds about right,” Hawk said, opening the door for Nikki.

They headed towards the patrol car, and Hawk’s phone started going off. He answered it as they climbed into their seats. “Hello?” he said. “So he wasn’t strangled? Some sort of allergic reaction to something? Was that how he died? Oh, the stab wounds, of course–I assumed so. Yeah, she’s with me, why? Oh! Oh, okay. Well, then…yes. You can expect us down at the station shortly. Thank you for letting me know.” Hawk hung up the phone and turned his gaze toward Nikki.

“Everything okay, Hawk?” she asked.

“Well, a few things: Those markings around Howard’s neck were not from a strangling. He had some sort of allergic reaction to something. They found that he had injected himself with his epi-pen, though, so that’s not what killed him. He bled to death thanks to the stab wounds,” Hawk said.

“Okay, so maybe someone tried to kill him by giving him something he was allergic to… and when that didn’t work, they resorted to stabbing,” Nikki said. “Okay, so that might help a little. Whoever killed Howard probably knew him well enough to know that he was allergic to something. We can narrow it down to maybe co-workers, friends, and family. Probably not anyone at the bar unless he broadcasted his allergies.”

“Right,” Hawk said. “Now we got to head down to the station.”

“Something else going on, Hawk?” Nikki asked, picking up on his sudden discomfort after the phone call. He clearly knew something that he was hesitant to reveal to her.

“Yeah, actually. They have arrested a potential suspect in Howard Blanche’s murder,” he said wearily.

“Wow! Really? That sure was fast. Who did they arrest?” Nikki asked. Hawk hesitated to respond as he pulled the vehicle out of the parking lot and headed back into town. “Hawk what’s going on? You’re acting weird. Like, weirder than usual. Who did they arrest?”

“That’s the thing,” Hawk said nervously. “They arrested Seth’s girlfriend, Jackie.”

Chapter Eight

Nikki walked with a quick, even pace through the parking lot of the local station, with Hawk right on her heels. She could hardly imagine why the police would have arrested Jackie. What sort of thing had even led the police to her? She wasn’t even from the area as far as Nikki knew. When she entered the station, the local police all seemed to turn towards her, sending her slight fury and confusion. She wanted some answers.

Jackie had yet to be booked. She was sitting on a bench just beyond the reception desk, her left wrist handcuffed to the bench’s arm to keep her put. The woman was wide-eyed as she spoke to an officer who was looming over her.

“Hey, Nikki,” the officer behind the counter attempted to greet her, but she waved him off and marched right up to the bench and to the officer speaking with Jackie.

“Okay, what’s going on here?” Nikki demanded in such a brisk tone that it startled the officer slightly, and he spun around to face her.

Before he could speak, Jackie interrupted. “This is my boyfriend’s mother,” she said. “I know she can probably clear this right up! She can prove I didn’t do a thing.” Jackie appeared absolutely mortified by her current predicament, but she seemed quite confident that Nikki had come to be her rescuer.

“Can you guys give us a minute?” Nikki asked, shooting her gaze towards Hawk and the other officer.

Hawk and the man exchanged glances before hobbling off. Nikki was sure Hawk would head to speak to the arresting officer to gather information that way, but Nikki wanted to speak to Jackie directly. Slowly, she sat herself down. “Okay, Jackie,” Nikki said. “What happened? Why do the police think you murdered Howard Blanche? Did you even know him?”

Jackie took a deep breath. She seemed frightened and quite flustered. “Because, well, Howard was an old boyfriend.”

“An old boyfriend?” Nikki questioned. “How did you even meet him?”

“I lived here in Maple Hills a few years before I headed back to school,” Jackie said. “Howard and I dated. We met while he was working at that stupid insurance company, and I came in to file a claim. He was so charming, and he seemed really cool to me at the time. But then, well, we kept dating…and the more time I spent with him the more and more he showed his true colors. At first, it was just a sort of control thing.”

“What do you mean?” Nikki questioned.

“Well, he would make me feel guilty for hanging out with my friends. And then he went from just making me feel guilty to telling me that I outright couldn’t spend time with my friends. He said they were bad for me, and he convinced me that was true. Then he started borrowing money from me. Then he went from occasionally borrowing my money to just taking it. Then it got to the point that my checks would go straight to him. And if I ever argued with him or stepped out of line, he would hit me. If he even suspected that I was thinking about breaking up with him, he would threaten to kill me.”

Nikki felt her heart beat rapidly with an interior fury; this Howard Blanche was far from the darling boyfriend Taylor had made him out to be. “Jackie, I’m so sorry. I had no idea you had dealt with something like that. How did you get out?”

“I grabbed whatever I could carry in the middle of the night, and I moved to another city. I left Maple Hills behind me; I became an artist. Not that long ago, I even started taking classes at the college Seth attends. We had a class together, but we never really met officially until he came into the tattoo parlor,” Jackie said. “I asked him out, and we started casually dating. Nothing serious, honestly. But then he told me he was coming home to Maple Hills for Thanksgiving, and I kind of invited myself along. To be honest, I wanted to see what Howard was up to. I wasn’t going to talk to him. I just wanted to see what he had done with himself.”

“Why would you want to see someone like that again?” Nikki questioned.

“I guess it’s a sort of sick fascination. Like a train wreck, you can’t look away from until it’s over. I wanted to know he was miserable. I was hoping he had gotten fired for sexual harassment; I knew he had a few complaints back when we dated. I just wanted to know his life was a disaster,” Jackie said. “Last evening I went out for a bit after Hawk took me back to his place; I told him I was just going out for a smoke, but I was going to go see Taylor. You see, I had spied on Howard online before coming to Maple Hills, and when I realized he was well off, I got a little obsessed. I found out he had moved in with that girl, Taylor, and she just seemed too nice for him. And I know from experience how he is with nice girls.”

“So you went to see Taylor, not Howard?” Nikki questioned.

“I know the kind of man Howard was. I just thought I’d warn her. I’ll admit a small part of me wanted to ruin his life, to tell his girlfriend to get out before he hurt her and make her leave him. It was petty, I know, but a part of me really was worried about her,” Jackie explained.

“Okay, so what happened when you went to Taylor’s apartment?” Nikki asked.

“I knocked on the door. It was late, so she looked pretty frantic when she answered the door. She was wearing a bathrobe, and I got to admit it made me kind of sick. I figured she and Howard were, well, you know. Anyways, it’s like when I started talking, a floodgate opened. I told her I was there to warn her–that I was one of Howard’s old girlfriends. I told her she was in danger and that Howard was an awful person. I told her how he used to hit me, but then she cut me off. She got really snippy; I think she was on her period. She told me to leave and that I was a jealous ex-girlfriend. She slammed the door in my face,” Jackie said, shaking her head at the memory of it.

Before Nikki could press Jackie any further, Hawk came up and tapped Nikki on the shoulder. “We got a warrant to open up Howard’s safe. You coming with?”

Nikki nodded and rose to her feet. “Yeah, let’s go.”

“Wait!” Jackie exclaimed, eyes wide. “I thought you could talk to the police for me and get them to let me go. Where are you going? They’re about to book me and put me in jail!”

Nikki frowned. “Jackie, I’m not an officer. There’s nothing I can do. Right now you are their only suspect; your testimony is only circumstantial evidence. The police’s suspicion is all on you until Hawk and I can present them with another suspect. And that’s what I’m going to be working on, I promise.”

Jackie did not seem pleased with Nikki’s response, but there was nothing she could do for the woman for the time being. Nikki followed Hawk back out to his patrol car, and they headed back to Taylor’s apartment.

Chapter Nine

Nikki fought the oncoming temptation to roll her eyes or to give Taylor an honest piece of her mind. She and Hawk had to practically force their way into her apartment even with the warrant to search Howard’s safe. The woman was becoming increasingly frantic with each passing second, and she had even locked Howard’s bathroom door to make Hawk’s job all the more difficult. Now, as Hawk worked to pick the lock of the bathroom, Taylor stood in a corner with her arms crossed and tears silently streaming down her face. She seemed more annoyed than upset.

“This should be illegal!” Taylor declared from the corner. “You shouldn’t be able to invite yourselves in, flash some paperwork, and break into my boyfriend’s safe! He’s dead! You need to respect his personal property! His memory doesn’t need to be desecrated any more than it already has been by you two! This is an absolute outrage! As soon as this is over, I’m filing a complaint with the justice department! Do you hear me? I’ll make sure you lose your job!”

She kept on and on and on. Nikki could feel a vein starting to protrude from her forehead having to stand there and listen to Taylor. “Okay,” Hawk said as he stood upright. “I can’t pick the lock. Miss, you can either unlock this door or I’m going to kick it in, and you’ll lose your security deposit on this place.”

Taylor stuck out her tongue. I’m going to lose it, Nikki thought. She’s acting so childish! “Go ahead and kick it down,” Taylor said. “And that’ll just be something else you have to pay for when I sue you!”

“You can’t sue me for doing my job,” Hawk said. “You’ve got thirty seconds to unlock this bathroom door before I go outside and get my tools from the car. I’ve got an ax in there, and I will destroy this door.”

“Do it!” Taylor said. “Because I’m not letting you in there!”

“Oh my God!” Nikki at last exclaimed, no longer able to hold her tongue. She spun on her heels, still remaining on the opposite side of the living area while facing Taylor down. “You are delusional!” she exclaimed, pointing a finger in Taylor’s direction. “Hawk and I have only been investigating your psychotic ex-boyfriend for less than a day, and you know what I’ve learned? He was a tool! I cannot believe you are standing here defending him like he was some honorable person worth defending! So far we’ve uncovered sexual harassment complaints and learned he was in bar fights and attempted to sexually assault someone at a bar. He beat one of his ex-girlfriends, and he probably has been lying to you about his employment for the past year! Honestly, Taylor, it doesn’t sound like Howard had a single good bone in his whole body. So stop defending him, quit feeling sorry for yourself, and unlock the door!”

Taylor burst into tears, and a stream of unsavory words spewed out of her mouth. She dug into her pocket revealing a key and threw it across the room. “No one knew Howard like I did!” she shouted before storming back into the bedroom.

Hawk bent down and picked up the key to the bathroom, rolling his eyes. Nikki came over to him and took the key away. “Well, that was mature of you,” Hawk grumbled.

“She needs a reality check. You might want to go check on her. Make sure she doesn’t do anything to hinder the investigation in the state she is in. After this is over, we might need to get her help with wrapping this up. I’d go talk to her, but she’d probably just cuss at me again,” Nikki said as she unlocked the bathroom door.

Hawk sighed, but he didn’t argue. “Fine. I’ll go check on Taylor.” He handed her the small crowbar he had brought into the apartment. “You think you can get the safe open?”

“Give me some credit, Hawk,” she said and winked at him. “I’ve got some pretty impressive elbow grease.” She headed into the bathroom as Hawk unwillingly headed towards Taylor and Howard’s bedroom.

Nikki took a moment to observe her surroundings. She was certainly in a man’s bathroom. There was dried toothpaste and shaving cream on the sink. The shower had not been cleaned in ages, and there was an undeniable stench of body odor present. “Gross,” she mumbled under her breath. She reluctantly got down on her knees in front of the bathroom sink, opening up the cabinets below to reveal the safe that Hawk had found last time they were in the apartment.

The safe wasn’t heavy, so she was able to pull it out from under the sink to make it easier to pry open. Taylor had said she didn’t have a key to the safe, and even after her little temper tantrum, Nikki believed this to be true. From what she had learned so far, Howard certainly seemed like the kind of man who would keep secrets locked away in a safe.

Nikki observed the small black safe for a moment, trying to decide the best route to take with the crowbar. She decided to close the cabinet of the sink and push the safe up against the cabinet doors to keep it from sliding while she attempted to open it. Expecting it to provide a significant amount of resistance, Nikki nearly toppled over when the cheap little safe popped open as soon as she put half her weight down onto the crowbar. “Geez,” she scoffed, feeling relieved she didn’t accidently fall on top of the crowbar and gut herself.

She set the crowbar aside and took a peek inside. “You’ve got to be kidding me,” she said as she pulled out a black ski mask. She set it aside and continuing digging through the little safe. She found a gun, fully loaded and with ammo to spare. There was also a planner and a detailed map of Maple Hills with all of the town’s prominent banks circled in red marker. A number of minutes it would take to get from one to the other was written on the map as well. She flipped through his planner, shaking her head. The planner alone would be enough to convict a man.

Nikki threw everything apart from the planner and the map back into the safe, tucking those under her arm while picking up the little safe and stepping back out of the bathroom. Hawk had apparently managed to pull Taylor out of her hiding place in the bedroom because she was not sitting and sulking on the couch while Hawk stood idly by. “What was in the safe?” Taylor snarled, refusing to make eye contact.

“I’ve found evidence that Howard was planning a rather extensive bank robbery,” Nikki said, and both Hawk and Taylor looked at her in shock. She held out the planner, and Hawk reached to take it, but Nikki stepped past him and held it out to Taylor. Taylor snatched the planner, and Nikki handed her the map as well. As Taylor examined the evidence, a saddened expression seemed to take over her. “Howard was planning to rob every other bank in town,” Nikki said.

Taylor threw the planner and the map on the ground, and Hawk bent down to pick them up. The woman started to cry again, but she gained control quickly. “You were right about Howard,” Taylor admitted at last. “I think the good side of Howard was not real. It was just something I invented so that I could deal with him. I pretended he was a good person and that other people just couldn’t see it. But he was far from it. I guess a part of me is glad that he is gone, and I felt guilty for feeling that way about a person. I’m sorry I’ve given you two such a hard time.”

Nikki sat down on the couch next to Taylor and offered her a comforting smile. “I can’t imagine what kind of life you’ve had dealing with a man like Howard. We’re going to find out what happened to him, but you don’t have to wait around on that. You can move on now. Find someone who treats you better. Someone you deserve. You didn’t deserve to be stuck with a man like Howard. No one deserves a Howard.”

Taylor nodded. “Thank you, Nikki. I think it’s time I tried to pull myself back together after having been torn apart by that man for so long.”

“Good,” Nikki said, rising from her seat. “Hawk and I got to get this evidence turned in and continue with our investigation. If you can think of anything that could be helpful, let us know.”

“I will. I promise,” Taylor said.

Nikki and Hawk left the apartment with the evidence they found. “So what do you think?” Hawk asked, cranking up the car, but he didn’t pull off. He seemed distracted by his own thoughts.

“About what we found in the safe?” Nikki questioned, and Hawk nodded. “Well, if he had any accomplices on the bank robberies he was planning, that could lead us to a suspect.”

“True,” Hawk said. “But I didn’t see anything in his planner about help. And it was pretty detailed. I’ll have to read through it more carefully, but it looked like he was planning on going solo.” Hawk glanced towards the apartment buildings, shaking his head. “That woman needs help. She was teetering on that line between sanity and insanity, don’t you think? I’ve never met anyone with such mood swings!”

Nikki sat upright. “You know what? I just thought of something that Jackie said. Hold on, I’m going to call the station.” Nikki whipped out her phone; she was put on hold for several minutes before an officer answered. “This is Nikki Bates-”

“Oh! Hey, Nikki! You know, your son’s girlfriend is really annoyed at you right now,” the man responded before she had a chance to explain why she was calling.

Nikki rolled her eyes. “I bet. I need to talk to her.”

“Um…” the officer hesitated for a moment. “I don’t know if she is going to want to talk to you.”

“Try anyway, would you?” Nikki insisted, and a few minutes went by before she heard Jackie’s voice seething on the other line.

“Nikki! And here I thought you had forgotten all about me!” Jackie exclaimed. “Are you just leaving me to rot in jail today because you’re mad your son is dating some washed up tattoo artist or what?”

Nikki shook her head and tried to stifle a sarcastic chuckle. The thought had indeed crossed her mind, but she wasn’t going to let Jackie know that. “No, Jackie, nothing like that. I’m trying to figure out who really killed Howard so that I can clear your name. I can’t get them to release you by sitting up at the station all day, now can I?”

It was quiet on the other line before Jackie muttered, “No, I guess not. I’m sorry. I’ve never been in jail before. I’m kind of freaking out, and I’m taking it out on you.”

Nikki smiled slightly, appreciating the apology. “It’s all right, Jackie. Don’t worry, we’re looking into this. I did have a question for you, though. When we spoke earlier today, you said something about thinking Taylor was on her period when you went by to see her? Was that because of her mood swings or was there another reason?”

“I mean, I did notice the mood swings. She was all sweet and jittery when she answered the door, but then she just snapped on me suddenly when I started telling her what kind of guy her boyfriend was. But that’s not why I thought she was on her period. She had a little blood on her robe; I didn’t point it out to her or anything. That’s embarrassing, you know?”

Nikki felt her stomach tighten slightly. “Thank you, Jackie. That’s all I needed. For now, just sit tight, and don’t talk to anybody without a lawyer present. Got it?”

“Got it,” Jackie said. “But, um, I don’t have a lawyer…”

“Tell them I’m looking into finding you a lawyer, and that should buy you some time, okay?” Nikki said.

“Okay, thank you,” Jackie said.

“I’ll talk to you later, Jackie,” Nikki said. “Just hang in there.” She hung up the phone and sat back into her seat as Hawk was pulling out of the parking lot and heading back towards the station.

“What was that about?” Hawk asked.

“Jackie said she saw blood on Taylor the night Howard was killed,” Nikki said, and then her head suddenly started putting everything together. “Someone tried to poison Howard, but he survived thanks to his EpiPen, right?”

“Right.”

“But someone would have had to have known he was allergic to something; the killer would have had to have known Howard personally,” Nikki said. “And when using his allergies against him didn’t work, the suspect stabbed him.”

“Okay, so what’s going on through your head?”

“What if what Howard was allergic to was pumpkin?” Nikki asked.

“Okay, so?”

Nikki looked towards him with a serious gaze. “Taylor came into my shop that day I was really busy. She ordered a bunch of chocolates…pumpkin-filled chocolates. She said Howard loved them.”

Hawk nodded. “I’m going to call the hospital. Get his medical records. If Howard was allergic to pumpkin, it sounds like you might have found our killer.”

Chapter Ten

After dropping off the evidence and speaking to Hawk’s boss about their suspicions, Hawk and Nikki left the station and headed straight to Taylor’s apartment. “This may be the fastest we’ve ever solved a case,” Hawk said.

“Don’t be too quick to say that, Hawk,” Nikki warned. “We only have our gut instincts, really. Jackie saying she saw blood on Taylor’s robe isn’t really evidence. And Taylor buying pumpkin-flavored treats is circumstantial. We don’t even know if pumpkin is what Howard was allergic to.”

Hawk’s phone started to ring, and he put it on speaker since he was driving. “Talk to me, Heather. What do you got?” Hawk asked.

“You and your girlfriend were right, Hawk,” Heather’s voice came through the phone. “According to the hospital, Howard has a severe pumpkin allergy. Looks like your killer must have known that based off of what the forensic pathologist found.”

“So when my pumpkin-stuffed chocolate morsel didn’t kill Howard, thanks to his EpiPen, Taylor probably panicked and stabbed him while he was still weak from the reaction,” Nikki said.

Heather’s voice came through the phone. “Nikki, is it wrong that I’m really craving some of your pumpkin-stuffed chocolate morsels?”

Nikki stifled a laugh. “Honey, they’re fabulous. Come by the shop tomorrow, and I’ll give you a sample.”

Heather laughed. “Ooh, you know I’ll be there. Hawk, if you need anything else, call. Good luck.”

“Thanks Heather,” Hawk said before hanging up the phone. “I like her. She’s new, but she works fast.”

Soon they were pulling up in front of Taylor’s apartment building. They did not waste any time. “You know I have to legally tell you that you’re a citizen and shouldn’t come with me to make an arrest, right?”

“And you know that I have to tell you I’m coming anyways, right?” Nikki retorted, and Hawk snickered and kissed her on top of her head.

“Okay, good, we got that out of the way,” he said, and the two of them hurried up the flight of stairs and over to Taylor’s door. Hawk knocked several times, but Taylor never came to the door. “Looks like I get to knock one of her doors down after all,” he said. “Stand back.”

A part of Nikki really enjoyed seeing Hawk kick that door in. She sometimes forgot how strong and masculine he was. The door flung open after one violent kick. Hawk reached back and touched his lower back. “Geez, I’m not young anymore,” he moaned, drawing his firearm and calling out for Taylor. “Stay back,” he told Nikki, so she impatiently waited at the door while he searched the apartment, reemerging in the doorway seconds later. “She’s gone.”

“Don’t be so sure!” Nikki exclaimed, pointing over the railing and out towards the parking lot.

Hawk’s jaw dropped. “She’s in my car!” And the two of them bolted down the walkway and practically fell on top of one another trying to get down the stairs. Taylor whipped the patrol car out of the parking lot just as Nikki was waving down a woman pulling into the lot; the woman had just barely missed being hit by Taylor.

Hawk flashed his badge and practically pulled the poor woman out of the vehicle. “Sorry, ma’am,” he said and tossed her a business card. “But someone is stealing my patrol car!”

The woman rolled her eyes. She didn’t seem too angry. In fact, she seemed to find it almost humorous that a cop let someone steal his patrol car. Nikki jumped into the passenger’s seat of the little red Ford Focus, and Hawk slammed on the gas pedal and peeled out of the parking lot. “You’re going to be in so much trouble,” Nikki said, buckling up quickly.

“No kidding!” he exclaimed as they hurried after Taylor. “She must have climbed down the fire escape.”

Taylor managed to turn on the lights, causing people to stop for her as she zipped down several roads. “Hurry up!” Nikki exclaimed.

“What’s it look like I’m doing?” Hawk exclaimed. The little Focus was fast, but Taylor had gotten far ahead of them. “Unbelievable!” Hawk shouted each time a car cut them off. Taylor made a turn down a street far ahead of them, and Hawk laid on the horn and whipped around two cars, pulling up onto the sidewalk to get around them.

“She’s getting away!” Nikki shouted.

Hawk turned the corner Taylor had gone down moments before; she was getting onto the highway. “Oh no!” Nikki cried as Hawk hurried after her.

“Don’t worry,” Hawk said. “I’m going to get her.”

“No, I mean, we’re being followed,” Nikki said.

Hawk looked up into the rearview. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

There was another patrol car behind them with their lights on chasing after the Focus that had just driven up onto a sidewalk. “Should you pull over?” Nikki asked.

“No!” Hawk said and sped up after his car.

Taylor whipped onto an exit, and Hawk went after her. She got far ahead once again, and she turned down many streets. The entire time, the second patrol car followed behind Hawk trying to get him to pull over. He whipped down a side road and into a parking lot where they saw his patrol car sitting; the driver’s side door was wide open. “She’s escaping on foot!” Hawk cried and jumped out of the car.

“Wait, Hawk!” Nikki warned, but he didn’t listen. She shook her head. Less than ten seconds later, she was watching him as he was tackled by the officers who had been following him. “Of course,” she said.

“I’m a detective! I’m a detective! A woman just tried to steal my car, and you’re letting her get away!” she could hear Hawk from outside of the vehicle.

“Miss, please step out of the vehicle with your hands up!” one of the officers called out to her.

Hawk looked furious, and Nikki could see the officers had already put Hawk in cuffs. “Crap,” one of the officer’s said as they searched Hawk and located his badge.

“Un-cuff me now!” Hawk snarled, and the men were quick to obey. He ran right over to his patrol car and spun around several times attempting to decipher what direction Taylor had gone. He pointed toward the officers and shouted, “One of you call for back up. We need to find this woman now!”

They spent the next hour searching the area; additional officers were called in, but Taylor was long gone. After receiving several apologies from the officers who had almost arrested Hawk, Nikki and Hawk climbed back into his patrol car. The officers were from another district, so they did not know Hawk personally. “Well,” Nikki said as Hawk slammed his door shut, “at least this will be a fun story to tell. I can’t believe they tackled you.”

“Very funny, Nikki,” Hawk said with a moan. “I just got jumped by two rookie cops, and our murder suspect is long gone.”

Nikki’s phone started to ring. She saw that it was Seth, so she let it go to voicemail. She reached across the car and put her hand on Hawk’s shoulder. “At least you got your car back.”

“I suppose that’s true,” he said. “Let’s just head back to the station for now. Maybe talk to Jackie again and see what we can learn about Howard. I’ll see if we can contact some of Taylor’s family members. Maybe she’ll try to hide out with one of them. I don’t know. I’ll put Heather back on research.”

He cranked up the car, and the two of them headed back to the highway. One of the officers who had jumped Hawk kindly agreed to return the Focus back to its owner as an apology for the misunderstanding.

“What a day,” Nikki moaned. “I’m sorry it hasn’t really worked out.”

“I’m honestly just glad she didn’t wreck my car,” he said with a slight growl. They drove mostly in silence for several minutes.

Nikki’s mind attempted to piece together the puzzle. It seemed fairly obvious now. She felt that they probably should have suspected Taylor from the beginning. Taylor had seemed delusional and unstable, perhaps evidence of an abused mind or a guilty conscience. She had lied to them about Howard. She had acted irrationally at times, and from what they learned quite early on that day, he was no gentleman towards women. As the prominent woman in his life, Taylor should have been an obvious suspect.

“Looks like we’ll probably be able to get Jackie out of jail today after all,” Nikki said.

“Try not to sound disappointed,” Hawk said.

“I’m not!”

Hawk smirked. “Admit it that you’re glad all this came out. Now Seth is going to know she only wanted to come meet his family so she could lurk after an ex. Not exactly a strong relationship builder. They’ll probably break up, and a part of you is relieved.”

“A thirty-something tattoo artist, Hawk!” she exclaimed. “I mean, I wanted Seth to date and to be happy, but for crying out loud!” She took a breath. “But, I suppose, he could do worse for himself. Jackie really doesn’t seem that bad. I should give her a chance…if Seth still wants to be with her, that is.”

“That’s my girl,” Hawk said. “Play nice. She could be your future daughter-in-law for all you know.”

“Don’t even joke like that,” Nikki warned. She pulled out her phone. “Seth called me a minute ago; let me see what this is about.”

She put the phone on speaker and pulled up the voicemail. Much to her horror, it was not Seth’s voice that came through the phone. “Hello, Nikki,” Taylor’s voice seethed. “So I went to pay a visit to Seth. His little girlfriend Tori is too cute.”

Hawk practically slammed on his breaks as soon as they pulled off the highway. The two of them sat with their eyes wide open as they listened to the rest of Taylor’s unsettling message. “I’m going to need a little favor from you, Nikki. I hope you don’t mind!” Taylor’s voice sang. “I’m going to need to see a copy of Jackie’s confession as well as the woman’s arrest papers. I’m also going to need you to bring those to me at midnight tonight down by the old bridge. You know the one a few miles from your house. Bring those to me tonight, Nikki. By the way, Seth and Tori say hi! Talk to you later.”

Nikki’s heart began to race. “She was careful what she said,” Hawk said angrily. “There’s no confession or threat in there we can use to pin her.”

“She’s out of her mind if she thinks I’m going to forge documents so that Jackie can take the fall for her crime,” Nikki said, gritting her teeth. Her stomach fell. Seth and Tori were in trouble. She looked to Hawk, feeling a bit shaky. “Hawk, what do we do?”

Hawk frowned. “I don’t know. But we’re going to figure something out. I promise.”

Chapter Eleven

The midnight hour was rapidly approaching as Nikki and Hawk drove the patrol car down to the old bridge. Nikki nervously tapped her fingers against her leg. She was a baker and an amateur detective, and she loved that about herself, but before anything else, she was a mother. There was no telling just how unhinged Taylor was, and the thought of her doing something to Seth or to Tori made her sick. Seth was her son, and Tori had practically become her daughter.

“It’s going to be all right,” Hawk promised as they pulled down a deserted road. There was a slight rain; it was just sprinkling, but it seemed fitting for the mood that was in the air that night.

Nikki simply nodded. “She’s here,” Nikki said, noticing the car parked in the middle of the bridge. They pulled up slowly, and Hawk parked a short distance away, facing Taylor’s vehicle.

“You have Jackie’s arrest papers?” Hawk asked.

“Yeah,” Nikki said softly. “Let’s just get this over with.”

Nikki and Hawk stepped out of Nikki’s car after Hawk turned off the engine. Nikki pulled her coat tight; the bit of rain was quickly becoming sleet. The lights to Taylor’s vehicle came on, and Nikki had to look away for a moment from the sudden flash. “Good!” Taylor’s voice screeched. “Glad you two managed to make it.” She stepped out of her car, but she remained at a distance. “Do you have what I asked for?”

“Where are Tori and Seth?” Hawk demanded.

Taylor rolled her eyes and took a step back towards the back door of her car. She flung the door open and revealed to them that she was carrying a knife. “Come on,” she snarled into the back seat, reaching in.

Tori came tumbling out of the car with Taylor gripping onto her hair. From a distance, Nikki could not tell what it was exactly, but Taylor had used some sort of rope or cord to bind Tori’s wrists together. The fidgety, timid girl shook slightly. Taylor walked Tori to the front of the car, and she gave Tori a push towards Hawk and Nikki. “Seth?” Nikki asked as Hawk worked to undo Tori’s restraints.

“No, no,” Taylor hissed. “Papers first. Have Tori walk them over to me; you two stay back.”

Nikki and Hawk exchanged glances, and Hawk handed the paperwork to Tori. Tori shook her head no, but Hawk gave her a reassuring nod before sending her back toward Taylor. Taylor snatched the papers out of Tori’s hands, and Tori bolted back towards Hawk and Nikki, hiding behind them. Taylor took a moment to look through the paperwork. “It’s a good thing you two came alone,” Taylor said. “Otherwise, Tori would have lost a finger.”

“Seth,” Nikki said firmly.

“Be patient,” Taylor warned. She tossed the paperwork into the driver’s seat before stepping to the back door. “Come here!” she snarled, reaching into the car.

Nikki’s heart began to flutter, and the next few moments seemed to happen in slow motion until she at last saw Seth emerge from the car with Taylor holding onto him by his hair with one hand and gripping the knife at his side with the other. Seth looked frightened, but he seemed more angry than scared. That’s my boy, Nikki thought proudly. Much like Tori, Seth’s wrists were bound, but she had tied his arms behind his back.

“Well, looks like you did what you were supposed to,” Taylor mused as she walked Seth towards the front of the car. “This was almost too easy.”

“Just give us Seth,” Nikki said firmly.

“What? Just like that? Don’t’ you want to know why I did it?” Taylor asked.

“I think we know the story, Taylor,” Hawk said. “Just let Seth go.”

Taylor laughed. “Oh, you think you know? You have no idea. Jackie told me all about her and Howard and how he treated her. But you know what? The way he treated Jackie was a dream come true compared to what he put me through!” Taylor pushed Seth into the side of the car, and he grunted slightly and his scowl intensified. She released his hair but moved her knife into the hand that had been gripping him and kept it pointed at him. With her free hand, she rolled up her shirt, revealing her side and all the bruises, scars, and burn marks that came with it. “You see that? I went through hell and back. And I had no way out. Believe me, I tried. I even tried to run away once, and he found me!” She released the rim of her shirt, letting the fabric fall.

Seth made a move towards Nikki and Hawk, and Taylor grabbed him by the hair again. “Seth, stay put!” Nikki said frantically and watched in horror as Taylor moved the knife towards his face.

“Don’t you move until I say you can!” Taylor declared.

Hawk spoke, “Taylor, calm down. No one else has to get hurt, okay?”

Taylor huffed. “Seth seems sweet. He doesn’t need to get hurt. Not like Howard.”

“I understand that Howard put you through a lot-” Hawk began, but Taylor cut him off.

“You have no idea!” Taylor roared. “I had no way out! I had to kill him. It was the only way I could get away from him! But you know what’s crazy? I still don’t feel like I’m safe. It’s like by killing him, a part of him transferred onto me…that complete disregard for life…” Taylor shook her head. “He was horrible! He deserved it! I wanted it to look like an accident. I fed him that pumpkin chocolate treat I got from your shop, Nikki. But no! He had his EpiPen on him. He never has his EpiPen on him! I knew as soon as he recovered he would beat the life out of me for giving it to him, and I panicked! I stabbed him, and I got a little carried away. I just kept stabbing him. It’s like I have it now–his cruelty. Not all of it, but just enough to make me feel miserable! It’s like I’ve won; I’m triumphant. I’ve escaped him, but I also feel guilty!”

“It’s okay to feel guilty,” Hawk said. “Howard was not a good person. He treated you terribly, but the fact you feel guilty means you are better than him. Now let Seth go, Taylor. Please.”

“Please,” Nikki added.

Taylor moved the knife away from Seth’s face, and it broke Nikki’s heart to see her son’s lip quiver in relief. She moved the knife toward his back, but not to threaten him–to cut his restraints. She pushed him forward and away from her, and Seth bolted toward them. “Mom,” he mumbled and wrapped his arms around Nikki’s neck.

“Thank God,” Nikki breathed and squeezed Seth tight. She took Seth’s face into her hands and kissed his cheek. “Are you all right?” she whispered. “Are you hurt?”

“I’m all right. I’m all right,” he said, and he smiled at her. “Thank you, Mom.”

“Well, it’s over!” Taylor declared, opening up the driver’s side door. She pulled out Jackie’s arrest papers and sighed, gripping them in her hands. “It really is like he managed to rub off on me. I never thought I would be the type of person who could condemn an innocent woman, but I finally have my freedom. I won’t lose it now.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure of that,” Nikki snarled.

“Yoo-hoo!” Jackie sang as she stepped out of the back of Nikki’s car and came and stood by them. She crossed her arms and scowled in Taylor’s direction.

“Why…” Taylor gritted her teeth and crinkled the paperwork in her hands. “Why isn’t she in jail!”

“Do you really think I would let an innocent woman go to prison?” Hawk questioned.

“Do you really think these two could have gotten me to write a confession?” Jackie added with a chuckle.

Taylor’s eyes widened. She cussed in their direction and went to jump into the car. “Freeze!” a voice from behind her shouted.

She spun around, and before Taylor could make a move, her wrist that was gripping her knife was grabbed by an armed officer. Several other officers flooded out from the shadows; they had been hiding out under and around the bridge. Taylor’s entire confession, Nikki knew, had been caught on camera.

“What! What is this!” Taylor exclaimed as she was being placed into handcuffs.

“Sorry, Taylor,” Nikki mused as a few patrol cars appeared from a distance, lights flashing. “You need help,” Nikki told her. “Maybe you can get it where you’re going.”

Nikki turned, facing Seth and ignoring Taylor’s shouting and threats as she was drug off towards one of the approaching patrol cars. “Mom, you’re pretty amazing, you know?” Seth said, smiling.

“I’m so sorry I kept ignoring your phone calls today,” Nikki said. “I was mad at you, and that was childish of me.” She looked at Jackie. “And I’m so sorry I was so judgmental of you, Jackie!”

Jackie smiled. “I think we could have made this a little easier on you by giving you a warning. I’m sorry. I’m also sorry I lied to you, Seth, about why I wanted to come to Maple Hills. I misled you.”

Seth nodded at her, but he did not really smile. “It’s okay, Jackie. I understand,” he said, but he did not go to her. He stayed beside Nikki, offering her an occasional hug.

“All right, let’s get out of here,” Hawk said. “We kind of have to go by the station first. We all will have to give our statements.”

“Great,” Seth moaned.

“It’s been such a long day,” Nikki complained.

“Really? You don’t get to say that,” Tori mumbled. “We were kidnapped.”

“I was arrested,” Jackie added.

“Nikki and I got into a car chase,” Hawk said. “I think it’s been a long day for all of us. How about after the station, I buy us all some hot chocolate. But none of that commercial stuff. I want the good chocolate.”

“You mean you want me to start up our hot chocolate maker at the shop,” Nikki said.

“Yes please,” Hawk said with a wink, escorting the group to the car.

Nikki sat beside Seth in the back seat. She noted that Jackie sat upfront instead of taking the seat beside Seth where Tori now sat. As they drove, Nikki felt Seth grab her hand. “Thanks, Mom,” he said again.

Nikki felt like she could breathe again. Jackie was out of jail. Her son and Tori were safe. And Taylor was being escorted to the local jail after having confessed to the murder. Now all Nikki had to worry about was how in the world she was going to get everything ready in time for Thanksgiving.

Chapter Twelve

Nikki stood around the island bar in her kitchen, one hand gripping a potato and another gripping a small kitchen knife. Beside her was Seth, attempting to do his best with the potato peeler she had handed him a moment ago after he had come close to slicing his finger peeling the potatoes with a knife. “And here I thought you had some Southern charm left in you, Seth,” Nikki teased her son.

“I can peel a potato just fine,” he insisted. “It’s just been a while is all.”

“Sure,” Nikki said with a slight laugh. It was Thanksgiving morning, and they were busy with meal preparation. It had been a very pleasant morning thus far filled with their Georgia traditions. It had been a while since Nikki had been able to spend some honest alone time with Seth, so it had been a lovely morning for her.

“So,” Seth said as a moment of silence threatened to pass between them. “What’s the word on Taylor?”

Nikki nearly sliced her own finger in surprise. It had been a few days since Taylor’s arrest, and Seth had avoided any talk of the woman. She had been waiting for it, though. He had given his statement to the police about the kidnapping, but the two of them had yet to speak on the rather sensitive and traumatizing experience. “What do you mean?” Nikki asked.

“I mean, what’s going to happen to her?” Seth asked. “Have you heard anything from Hawk?”

Nikki sighed slightly. Taylor was a very sad case. “Well, Hawk seems to think that, whatever prison she gets sent to, if she does get jail time and the jury acquits, she will be given some psychiatric attention. And let’s be honest, after everything she did and everything she went through, that’s what she really needs.”

“I agree,” Seth says. “Honestly, I don’t even think I’m upset with her for what she did to Tori and me. Is that weird? I don’t know, I guess I feel more sorry for her than angry at her. When she had Tori and me, it just didn’t seem like it was something she wanted to be doing.” Seth put down the potato and peeler. “It didn’t seem like that was her, you know? She must have apologized to me a million times while she had us, and it was to the point where I think she was trying to apologize to herself…if that makes sense.”

“Of course,” Nikki said, and at that point, Seth seemed ready to drop the conversation. She did not want to pry, so instead she offered a change in subject. “So with all the craziness this week, I don’t think I really had much of a chance to ask you how school is going?”

Seth laughed and smiled, picking back up the potato peeler. “Well, honestly, it’s pretty boring compared to Maple Hills! But college is good. I’m on the pre-med track as a biology major still, so nothing’s changed there. But I have been thinking about adding a forensic minor.”

Nikki smiled proudly. “Wow, really? That’s a big change!” She stepped forward and kissed her son on the cheek. “I’m so proud of you, Seth.”

Seth grinned and gave her a gentle shove. “Okay, easy there, Mom.” He picked up another potato, rolling his eyes as he examined the one potato he had managed to peel compared to the four that Nikki had already done. He got to work on the second. “Jackie wanted me to tell you that she was sorry she couldn’t stay for Thanksgiving. She didn’t want to stay in Maple Hills any longer. She said the longer she stayed here, the more at risk she was of being accused of murder again.”

Nikki laughed. “Oh, poor Jackie. I guess it wasn’t the most pleasant stay for her, huh?”

“I wouldn’t think so,” Seth said. “Especially since half the time she was here she was in jail.”

Nikki sighed and then grew a bit more serious with Seth. “I really am sorry she left, Seth. And I’m sorry for the way I acted. I know you liked her, and I was really judgmental of her. She was your way of letting go of that awful ex-girlfriend of yours and moving on, and I just blew up in your face and made her uncomfortable.”

“No, I think we’re the ones who owe you an apology, Mom. I probably should have given you a heads up, and I admit it was a little weird. And, so you know, Jackie and I broke up before she left-”

Nikki’s uncontrollable smile interrupted Seth. He crossed his arms and shook his head at her. “Sorry!” Nikki said. “Okay, I’m sorry. But, come on, Seth! She was practically my age!”

“Geez, Mom, give me some credit. I wasn’t dating a dinosaur!” he teased, and Nikki gave him a friendly shove with her elbow.

They continued peeling potatoes; they were nearly done. “I am glad to see you moving on, though, Seth.”

“Me too,” he admitted. “And I think I’m moving on in a healthier way now.”

“What do you mean by that?” Nikki questioned, but before he could answer, the front door opened.

Tori came stumbling in, her arms full of groceries. “Ugh!” she moaned. “The grocery store on Thanksgiving Day is a nightmare!” She then scurried over and plopped the grocery bags down on the bar. She smiled at Seth, her eyes sparkling slightly as she dug around in the bags. “Okay, Seth, I got the cream cheese.” She pulled the cream cheese from the bag. “And the barley that you asked for.”

“Thanks, Tori,” he said, smiling back at her with the same longing gaze that she was wearing.

“Okay,” Tori said, still wearing a goofy grin. “I’m going to run to the guest room real quick and change, but then I’ll be right back to help!”

She skipped off, and Nikki watched Seth as he watched Tori leave with a pleasant look on his face. She felt her jaw starting to hang open; Seth’s gaze towards Tori lasted much longer than expected, and when he turned back to face Nikki, he blushed. “What?” Seth asked.

Nikki’s wide mouth formed into a smile. “You like her!”

Seth’s eyes widened. “Mom, hush.”

“Oh my goodness!” Nikki exclaimed excitedly. “When did this happen?”

“Well, um…” Seth mumbled and kept looking back down the hall as though he was worried that Tori would emerge any second. “We spent a good bit of time together…you know…since my girlfriend was kind of in jail. She’s really, um, nice and... Stop looking at me like that, Mom!”

“Oh wow!” Nikki could hardly contain herself. “You like her! And from that look she gave you, she likes you too! Oh my goodness! This is exciting!” Nikki gave him a gentle punch in the arm, and he grimaced. Since he was giving her a hateful look, she just had to tease him. “You like Tori, you like Tori, you like Tori-” she sang.

Seth countered with a bit of singing mockery of his own. “You like Hawk, you like Hawk, you like Hawk.”

They then stopped, their faces both incredibly red. After a momentary stare down, they both burst into laughter. “Happy Thanksgiving, Seth,” Nikki said, still laughing.

“Happy Thanksgiving, Mom.”

Dear Reader,

Hi there. Thank you for reading.

I hope you’ll leave a review and/or rating at the retail website where you purchased it, I appreciate you and your feedback.

Thanks again,

Wendy Meadows

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About the Author

Wendy Meadows is an emerging author of cozy mysteries. She lives in “The Granite State” with her husband, two sons, two cats and lovable Labradoodle.

When she isn’t working on her stories she likes to tend to her flower garden, relax with adult coloring and play video games with her family.

Get in Touch with Wendy

www.wendymeadows.com
wendy@wendymeadows.com

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