BlueBuried Muffins (Black Cat Cafe Cozy Mystery Series Book 1) Read Free Page A

the sun dazzle off the water, and the sky would be bright blue by the time most people were up and about. A few early morning fisherman bobbed in their fishing boats, enjoying the peacefulness of the morning. She checked her phone, finding a missed call from Max from the night before.
    “I’m not ready to talk to him yet,” she told Smokey. The kitten rubbed against her leg and meowed before jumping onto the window sill and gazing outside. His tail hung down and twitched as his eyes followed something moving outside. There was a small deck and Annie decided she would hang a bird feeder on the railing so Smokey had something interesting to watch. “I’m heading to work now. See you later.”
    It was still early but Annie liked being up before the town woke up. The walk to Cove’s Corner only took about twenty minutes and gave her time to think about what Leona had told her yesterday about her mother. Walking down the slight hill from her apartment nested on the edge of the lake into the center of Catfish Cove gave Annie the comfortable sentiment of returning to an old friend. She walked past the one gas station at the edge of town, the small general store, with newspapers already delivered and waiting outside the door, and a medley of touristy shops selling all manner of souvenirs and locally made crafts.
    The new Cove’s Corner building was on the best waterfront in town. The old tour company must have sold out to make room for the new structure, she decided. When Annie arrived at the French door leading inside to the café, she was surprised to find the door open. It is a safe town, so people probably forget to lock up all the time, she thought as she walked in. For some reason, goose bumps traveled up her arm. Something wasn’t right. She got a pot of coffee going, poured herself a cup and walked to the booth closest to the window to watch the fishermen.
    The sound of a shattering cup on the shiny oak floor broke the silence. Annie’s hand flew to cover her mouth trying to keep the scream inside as she saw a body slumped in the corner of the booth.

Chapter 3
     
    A slight touch on Annie’s shoulder and the scream escaped. Every muscle in Annie’s body tensed for flight as she whirled around with her hands up, clenched into fists.
    “Sorry,” the intruder said as he backed up a couple of steps with his palms raised and open, showing he had no weapon. “The door was open and I wanted to say hello. I didn’t mean to frighten you.”
    Annie looked into deep blue eyes and a kind, but weathered and scruffy, face. His hair was pulled back in a ponytail, clean but scraggly. She quickly glanced over her shoulder to the body, double checking if it was still there and she hadn’t imagined seeing it.
    It was still there.
    Turning her gaze back to the man standing silently in front of her, she followed his eyes, now staring at the body. All color had drained from his face as he steadied himself on the table.
    “What happened?” He whispered.
    Annie bent down to pick up the broken pieces of her mug, carried them to the trash, and got out two new mugs. “Would you like some coffee?” Not waiting for a reply, she poured the coffees and put them on the counter, away from the body. Feeling numb, she functioned on autopilot until she could make sense of what happened. If there was sense to be made.
    He nodded as he talked into his phone, closed it, and joined her at the counter.
    “I called the police.” He held out his hand. “I guess we’ll be neighbors here, my name is Jake. I’m in the shop across the hall, next to The Fabric Stash.” Jake pointed to a sign she hadn’t noticed yesterday, Clay Design.
    “I’m Annie. I’m working here with Leonia,” she told him halfheartedly, still distracted by the thought of the body. She walked back to the booth and looked at Max, slumped on the table.
    Why did he come here? Was Annie in danger? A piece of paper sticking out of the back pocket of his jeans made her