M&M Surprise Murder: A Donut Hole Cozy Mystery - Book 17 Read Free

this one horse
town ages ago. Hillside this and Hillside that. Ugh, I should’ve figured it
would be this, this…” Lori broke off and pressed her lips into a thin line.
    “I wanted to talk to you about your
husband, actually. If that’s okay.”
    “What are you, a cop?” Lori asked.
“Because I won’t talk to cops without my lawyer present. He’s driving in from
Dallas. You’ll have to wait.” She adjusted the straps on her handbag.
    “I’m not an officer,” Heather said. “I
just make it a habit of researching these cases. I like to help people.”
    “Aint that cute,” Lori said, then
sneered.
    The smile finally slipped from
Heather’s lips.
    “Look, I don’t know what yo tell you.
Kyle and I didn’t exactly have the perfect marriage. He loved his sports more
than he loved spending time with me.” Lori shrugged, and finally broke eye
contact. She glanced at Amy and Dave, then back to Heather again.
    “Did Kyle bring any arrows for the
competition?” Heather asked. She tucked her arms behind her back and clasped
her hands together.
    Rudeness didn’t sit well with her.
    “Arrows? No. He was the judge. He
didn’t need arrows,” Lori replied. “Are you done yet? I have an appointment at
the spa.”
    Dave growled low in his throat then
let out a high-pitched bark. Amy shushed him and clicked her tongue.
    “I’m sorry, Mrs. Henson –”
    “You don’t need to call me that. Call
me Lori. Hearing his name instead of mine gives me the creeps,” Lori said, then
mock-shivered.
    “Why?” Heather asked.
    “Because he was having an affair,” she
replied, loudly.
    Lucy the Cosmo girl flinched and
dropped her magazine.
    “Oh,” Heather said. Well, that was
awkward. “I’m sorry to hear that.”
    “Don’t be. I came to terms with it years
ago. I’ll give you a hint, Mrs. Shepherd, since you’re into researching as you
put it. You want to find my husband’s killer? Talk to that floozy Jessica
Laverne. She’ll tell you what you need to know.”
    “Thank you for your time,” Heather
replied.
    Lori rolled her eyes and pushed past
her, then turned and disappeared down the hall, swaying her luxurious hair to
and fro.
    “Wow. Gotta love these tourists,” Amy
said.
    Heather sucked in a breath. Her mind
whirred and clicked, sleuthin’ thoughts dissecting themselves over and over.
Jessica Laverne, huh? What did the lead competitor in the archery competition
have to do with the head judge?
    “C’mon, Ames, let’s get back to the
store. We’ve got some work to do.”

Chapter 4
    “This way guys!” Heather called and
beckoned to her staff.
    They bundled out of the back of Ken’s
old van, Donut Delights boxes stacked in their arms.
    “I can’t see,” Maricela said.
    “I’ll take some of your boxes,” Ken
replied. He shut the car door, locked it, then hurried to Maricela and took
three large boxes from her arms. He held them against his stomach and chest,
grinning at her over them.
    She blushed slightly, cleared her
throat, then looked away.
    “We’re going to drop them at
reception, and then we’ll head back to the store and get started on those
online orders.”
    “This is like a field trip,” Jung said
– the fact that he wasn’t a suspect in this case had helped his disposition, a
lot. He grinned at Heather’s other assistants, then shifted the boxes in his
arms.
    Amy jostled around the back of the
van, wrestling four donut boxes into place. “If field trips take you to
retirement homes, then yeah, I guess so,” she said.
    The grounds at Hillside Manor sprawled
behind them, grass greener than emeralds. A central fountain tinkled water into
a shallow pool, and the drive twisted past it and stopped in front of the grand
stairs which led to the lobby.
    They’d decided to donate the leftover
donuts they’d made for the competition to the elderly folks up here.
    “This place is gorgeous,” Ken said.
    “Better than abuelito’s house.”
Angelica stood beside her cousin,