Cinnamon Crunch Murder Read Free Page B

back.”
    “And that made you angry,” Heather said.
    “Yeah, duh, it made me angry. But that doesn’t mean I’d ever hurt Tara. She was, like, my best friend in the entire world.” Goldie chewed the corner of her lip and sniffed. “But Foster, I haven’t heard from him since yesterday morning right before it, before Tara –”
    “You haven’t heard from him?”
    “No. I even went to his place this morning, and he wasn’t there. Like at all. Hold on a sec,” Goldie said, then swished a finger through the air, and then disappeared into a back room.
    She returned a few seconds later, clutching a piece of paper. She placed it on the glass counter, and then folded her arms.
    A couple’s picture stared up at Heather. Goldie wrapped in the arms of a hunky dude with the typical ‘jock’ look.
    “This is Foster,” Goldie said, tapping the picture with a gold fingernail. “That’s my boyfriend. Or he was before he up and disappeared. Just find him. He might have the answers you’re looking for.” 

Chapter 5
    Randy’s Burger Bar had changed since Heather had last visited. The place was practically empty, which was kinda weird for a usually busy Friday night. Those few patrons at the stark wood tables kept their noise to a minimum. Even the clink of cutlery had a muted quality.
    “Some place,” Ryan said.
    “The burgers are good, though. That’s all that counts.”
    “Yeah, yeah,” Ryan replied, then grasped her hand and held it to his lips. “Sorry, babe, I’m just in a terrible mood.”
    “Davidson?” Heather asked, uttering the ‘magic’ name which would surely put her husband in a bad mood.
    “Do I even need to say yes?” Ryan slurped milkshake from his straw, the pink swirl shooting up the tube and disappearing between his lips. “My hands are tied on the case. Shoot, I’m not even on the case.” He huffed out a sigh.
    “I don’t get it,” Heather said. “How can they have Davidson on the case when his daughter is the victim? That doesn’t make sense.”
    “It’s totally against protocol,” Ryan replied. “It’s like Davidson has some hold over the Captain. Whatever Davidson says, goes around the station and becomes a new kind of law.”
    “That sounds dangerous,” Heather said.
    “It is dangerous. If it carries on this way, I might have to… Nah, I don’t even want to say it.”
    Heather got up from her seat, circled the table and sat down beside her husband. She placed her head on his shoulder, and he snuggled closer to her. Like two teenagers on their first ever date.
    “It’s going to turn out all right, honey,” Heather said, softly.
    Ryan grunted by way of a reply.
    Heather sat up straight and looked him in the eye. “Wait, so you’re not working the case?”
    “I know what you’re thinking, and usually, I’d tell you to stay out of it, you’ve got a test tomorrow and so on, but yeah, Davidson’s weird interference changes a lot. Tell me what you’ve found out.”
    Heather grinned broadly and hurried back to her side of the booth. She brought Foster and Goldie’s picture out of her handbag and slid it across the table. “I spoke to Goldie Gold, today. She’s the girl who had a fight with Tara, right before she died. According to Eva, I mean, and I would trust Eva with my life.”
    “Goldie Gold? What a name.”
    “It’s a nickname. But yeah, she’s kind of like the female version of Richie Rich and way more spoiled,” Heather replied. She grasped her soda and drank some of it, then licked the sweetness off her lips. “She said she’d never hurt Tara because they were best friends.”
    “Of course, she did,” Ryan replied, picking up the picture and examining it.
    “But, she mentioned that this Foster guy was flirting with Tara and that she hadn’t seen him since before the murder.” Heather shuddered. “He’s my best lead. Ugh, I can’t get over how this one happened. A stabbing seems so brutal.”
    “It is brutal. They found black gloves