Serving Up Suspects

  Serving Up Suspects

  Little Dog Diner, Book 2

  Emmie Lyn

  © 2019, Emmie Lyn

  All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system without the prior written permission of the publisher.

  Editor: Helen Page

  Proofreader: Alice Shepherd

  Cover Designer: Lou Harper, Cover Affairs

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, organizations, places, events, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  No part of this work may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission of the publisher.

  Sweet Promise press

  PO Box 72

  Brighton, MI 48116

  For Melissa.

  Thank you for believing in me.

  Contents

  About This Book

  Author’s Note

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  What’s Next?

  SNEAK PEEK: Dishing Up Deceit

  More Blueberry Bay

  More Emmie Lyn!

  About This Book

  As it turns out quilting is the deadly new fad people are just dying to try… And here I thought the annual quilt auction would be a boring way to spend an evening!

  One big murder in my tiny hometown was more than I ever wanted to see, but now the death toll has risen to two. Eek!

  Hey, at least I’ve got my favorite ten-pound bundle of mischief at my side for good. My Jack Russell buddy, Pip, and I are experienced amateur detectives now and we’re more than ready to put another tough case to bed.

  The problem is that the murder victim had no known enemies, which begs the question: Who would actually want her dead? For this tricky catering gig, it looks like we’ll be serving up suspects instead of dessert. Can we catch the killer in time to save the fundraiser… and maybe even some lives along the way?

  Author’s Note

  Hi cozy readers!

  Welcome to Misty Harbor on Blueberry Bay on the coast of Maine where cozy mysteries abound. You are about to meet Dani Mackenzie, her grandmother Rose, and her spirited Jack Russell Terrier, Pip, along with many other great characters. Sit back and enjoy!

  Click here to sign up for my newsletter and never miss a new release.

  Chapter One

  The Little Dog Diner sparkled in the early morning sun when I parked my MG in front.

  It wasn’t only the bright white siding and red trim on the outside that made it stand out. Rose Mackenzie, my grandma, had remodeled the inside with new chrome stools at the shiny counter, and red booths along the side. She had spared no expense when she hired Luke Sinclair—blueberry farmer wrapped in carpenter gear and, yes, I had a soft spot for him.

  Luke pulled off the transformation flawlessly. He had a touch for making everything tasteful and charming. Judging by the stream of customers, the locals and tourists of Misty Harbor, Maine, agreed.

  When I hurried inside the door to start my shift, I quickly glanced in the decorative oval mirror, Luke’s last handcrafted touch.

  A stranger caught my attention in the reflection. This early in the morning usually brought in the regulars, so this guy stood out like a shark out of water.

  “Dani!” Lily Lemay, my best friend since forever, called from behind the counter. “A little help over here? Please?”

  At the sound of my name, I took one last fleeting glance at the stranger’s dark, eerily penetrating image in the mirror. He caught me looking at him, and the corners of his mouth turned up, sending shivers tingling along my spine. Definitely not in a good way.

  With a quick fluff of my out of control auburn curls, as if that was why I had looked in the mirror to begin with, I stiffened my shoulders, grabbed a blue apron covered with bright red images of lobsters, and joined Lily behind the counter.

  I sidled up to her and whispered so only she could hear, “Who is that guy?”

  “I have no idea, but I wish he’d leave,” she said, the stress of serving the early morning rush evident in the sharp tone she sent his way. “He’s been sitting there ever since I put up the Open sign, sipping on that same cup of black coffee the whole time.” She flicked her long blonde braid over her shoulder and glanced at the stranger.

  “He smiled at me,” I said, sorting the pastries in the glass-fronted case beneath the register.

  “Okay. Creepy.” Lily’s lips turned down in distaste.

  The diner door opened, ringing the overhead bell and announcing the arrival of new customers.

  “Thank goodness,” Lily said, pulling on thick, quilted mitts, “more regulars. He’ll get lost in the crowd.” She opened the oven and pulled out a tray of brownies.

  I inhaled deeply, savoring the rich chocolate aroma and waved my hand to direct more of the delicious scent my way. With one deep breath, I could have vacuumed the whole, delicious batch right into my mouth. “Chocolate. Sweet creamy chocolate. Want me to cut them?” I grabbed a long slicing knife.

  “Ha! I don’t think so,” Lily replied. “First, they need to cool, and second, with that drool at the edge of your mouth, I’m afraid every single one will end up in your stomach. Anyway, these are a special order. Remember?”

  I dabbed at my mouth before realizing that Lily was exaggerating about any drool. “A special order?” I knew we prepared dozens of desserts for the quilt auction, but brownies weren’t on the list.

  “Sue Ellen is going crazy with preparations for her quilt auction tonight. On top of her original dessert request, she insisted we add something extra chocolaty to satisfy the biggest chocoholic.” Lily shrugged. “I think she meant herself. Our brownies are already rich, but she wants chocolate frosting slathered on top. I suspect there could be a few sugar overdoses.” She leaned closer to me as though some of the customers might hear. “Personally, the chocolate frosting is over the top sweet for me, but what Sue Ellen wants, Sue Ellen gets. Right?”

  “Oh, yeah, she certainly has that I-don’t-take-no for an answer personality.” My eyes were glued to the brownies. Too sweet? No way.

  Lily elbowed me out of my brownie fixation and nodded toward the pastry case. “Your creepy admirer is eyeing the pastries. You’d better get over there and help him. I’ll handle the breakfast orders.”

  “I hate starting the day with a customer that unappealing,” I mumbled so only Lily could hear but she had already moved to a family of five at a nearby table and was taking their order.

  I welcomed the barrier of the pastry case as I forced up a smile for the stranger. “Does anything appeal to you this morning?” I said as brightly as I could. What was it about him that sent shivers down my neck?

  “As a matter of fact, j
ust about everything in here is making my taste buds rev into overdrive but,” he looked up into my eyes, “I’m looking for Rose Mackenzie. She’s supposed to meet me here.”

  With my face as neutral as I could manage, I asked, “And you are?” There was nothing about this man that made me connect him with my grandma.

  “Rudy.”

  “Oh,” I said, probably sounding like a doofus. The name sparked my memory but, like so often happens, the image I had was a far cry from this man standing in front of me. For some reason, I expected a tall, dark, and handsome man, but this guy was the complete opposite.

  “Rudy Genova, the videographer?” I made sure to say it loud enough so Lily would hear and put an end to wondering about whether this mystery man was a mass murderer or a harmless customer. “That’s why you were staring at me earlier?”

  “Yeah. You look like Rose. Are you sisters?” His lips turned up at the edges. I guessed it was supposed to be a smile.

  That was quite the come-on. Not that I didn’t like being compared to my elegant grandmother, but, come on, there was fifty years separating us. “She’s my grandmother, but people always confuse us as sisters.” I wondered if he caught my sarcasm.

  He leaned over the top of the pastry display. I leaned away, not sure if he was planning to climb over the barrier. “Now that I’m closer, I can see how much younger you are, and you beat Rose in the looks department, hands down.” He wiggled his eyebrows. “Don’t tell her I said that, though, okay?”

  I shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other. I asked, in an attempt to move the conversation away from this awkwardness, “Rose said she’d meet you here?”

  Now that I remembered who this mystery man was, the guy Rose had told me was helping with her website, I gave Rudy a more thorough inspection—from his shiny black hair, coal dark eyes, and stocky build, which put him a few inches taller than my five-foot-five height, to his black jeans and black leather boots that looked out of place for a summer day in our Maine seaside town. Where was Rose to save me from this man?

  “That’s what she said, the Little Dog Diner. You know, it’s a quaint little place.” He swiveled his head around like a bobblehead doll and asked, “We gonna do any of the filming for her website here?”

  Before I could catch my breath and figure out the proper answer to this question, a voice, with a slight southern twang, boomed through the diner. I turned to see two women.

  Sue Ellen wagged her finger and moaned, “Rudy. Rudy. Rudy. Bless your heart. You arrived and never let me know you’re here?” Her eyes narrowed as she delivered a fake, “Naughty, naughty,” scold at her friend.

  I sighed with relief and had to admit to myself that I had never been so happy to see Sue Ellen Baer walk into the diner. With her voluminous red dress ballooning around her, she moved toward her prey like a bullfighter wielding a cape. It wasn’t just her oversized personality that filled up the café. Her extra-large leather tote bag banged into the side of her leg with each step and with the top gaping open, it was ready for every single brownie to jump inside. I chuckled at that image.

  Sue Ellen was one of those curvy women who always looked stylish, though having an unlimited budget for the latest fashions and frequent trips to the hair and nail salons didn’t hurt, either. She managed quite nicely on her inheritance from her late father which allowed her to indulge in all of life’s pleasures plus build one of the biggest houses in Misty Harbor.

  “Sue Ellen?” Rudy extended both arms, wrapping her in a big bear hug. Then he backed up, letting his gaze run from Sue Ellen’s bleached blonde curly hair to her five-inch heels. “You are a sight for sore eyes in that ruby red dress.”

  “Oh, Rudy.” Sue Ellen giggled and covered her mouth. A pink splotch grew on both cheeks. “I bet you say that to all the girls.”

  Girls? I thought. Sue Ellen was at least thirty years beyond her girl days.

  Rudy winked at me before he continued his flattery. “Nonsense, Sue Ellen. You can’t be a day older than—”

  “Shush!” Sue Ellen put her finger across Rudy’s lips. “Stop right now and don’t embarrass me, Rudy.” She pulled another woman closer. “You haven’t met Judith Manning yet. My indispensable last-minute detail-fixer for the auction. You know me, I see the big picture.”

  Judith lingered behind Sue Ellen, content to be out of the spotlight.

  Meanwhile, Sue Ellen’s arms swirled in an arc above her head. “Judith figures out how to turn my vision into a reality worthy of this monumental occasion.”

  Judith smiled, but I could tell her heart wasn’t in it. She had the look of someone who spent most of her time on the outside looking in rather than smack in the center where Sue Ellen flourished. Her dark skirt and white blouse, along with practical black pumps made a stark contrast to Sue Ellen’s flamboyant style.

  She held her hand out. “Nice to meet you, Rudy. Sue Ellen has built you up into someone capable of performing filming magic. I hope you can live up to this pedestal she has you on.”

  “Oh, don’t mind her, Rudy. Judith, unlike me, sees problems around every corner.” From what I’d heard, Judith had a few problems of her own, but maybe that was gossip. “Come over to one of the booths and have coffee with us.” Sue Ellen continued. “I’ve got a few last-minute details I want to discuss for your filming tonight at the quilt auction.” She lowered her voice, for the first time since she’d entered the diner, “Dani, sweetheart, could you bring over three of those spectacular looking fruit thingies?”

  “Sue Ellen, I haven’t learned to read minds yet.” I smiled and bit the inside of my cheek as a reminder to be patient. “Is it this cream cheese square with raspberries on Lily’s flakey pastry or this blueberry tart glazed with apricot jam?”

  Sue Ellen bobbed her body back and forth, considering the offerings, and swinging that ruby red fabric a foot to each side of her legs. “Too many delicious choices. Just put two of each on a plate, that way, I won’t be second-guessing myself. By the way, are all the desserts ready for the auction tonight?”

  “Just finishing up the last of the chocolate covered brownies that you added last night, Sue Ellen,” Lily said with a wink at me. “I had a devil of a time keeping them away from our own chocoholic.”

  “Oh, I know.” Sue Ellen closed her eyes and shivered with passion. “Chocolate is impossible to resist. Could you put a few in a bag for me to take this morning?”

  “No problem,” Lily said.

  Rose, sunglasses perched on the top of her head and her straw hat tucked under her arm, glided into the diner; a woman on a mission. “Oh, Rudy, I’m sorry I’m late. Sometimes, I can’t get out of my own way. Let me grab some blueberry whoopie pies to go and you can follow me to Blueberry Acres. I want to show you one of Misty Harbor’s oldest businesses while I explain my vision for my website.”

  Rudy turned away from Sue Ellen and stared at Rose, showing hesitation about which woman to follow.

  I was a step ahead of Rose, packing blueberry whoopie pies in a box for her as soon as I heard her destination. “Packed and ready to go. I put in plenty for Luke and his dad since I know these are their favorite, especially with their blueberries in the recipe.”

  “I could kiss you, Dani.” Rose tucked the box under her arm. “Okay, then. It’s looking busy here this morning, so we’ll get out of your way.

  I hoped that Rose’s enthusiasm carried her through this latest project. She wanted this film on her website for the Blueberry Bay Grapevine, her weekly paper for all things of interest in the Blueberry Bay area.

  “Don’t forget, you volunteered Lily and me for dessert delivery and setup at Sue Ellen’s house for the auction.”

  “Oh, right. I’ll keep Rudy busy for the morning and then Sue Ellen gets him for the afternoon. I’ll see you back at Sea Breeze tonight, Dani. And, don’t worry about Pip while you’re working. I’ll take her with me.”

  I looked out the window at my terrier. Pip sat quietly in front of her water dish like a famo
us movie star, enjoying the morning sunshine and the many pats from residents walking by who’d become her friends since I’d rescued her from a horrible fate. Rose had her adorned with a hot pink bandana that complimented Pip’s white hair and brown ears. By her upturned face and wagging tail, I suspected she knew exactly how cute she looked, too.

  Rose took Rudy’s arm with one hand and balancing the box of whoopie pies with the other, she left exactly how she’d arrived—like a seagull soaring over Blueberry Bay, ready for anything.

  Chapter Two

  I sagged against the counter after I turned the OPEN sign around. My tired body craved to sit and relax but there was still plenty to do. “Let’s get this place in order for tomorrow, Lil, or we’ll never make it to Sue Ellen’s by five-thirty.”

  We worked together seamlessly, baking muffins, stirring soups, and assembling plenty of lobster salad for the next day. Finally, I threw my apron into the laundry basket and called it a day. “Ready for our last chore, Lil?”

  She wiped her forehead with the back of her hand, pushing wisps of stray blonde hair out of her face. “I’m beat, but let’s get this done.”

  We loaded our arms with the boxed desserts and a pile of aprons and headed outside to my old, held together with duct tape Honda—the Little Dog Diner errand vehicle. I opened the back door and slid the boxes onto the seat, juggling them to make everything fit. After I wiped my hands on my pants, I carefully closed the door and breathed a sigh of relief when the latch clicked into place. It had a tendency to jam.