Killer Cupcakes (Complete Novel)

Chapter Five

Chapter 5

"What?" Skylar looked totally appalled at my suggestion that Chance was the killer, but I ignored her.

Easton looked thoughtful, "Yeah, Chance Fox? I don't know. We never figured out who might have done the hit for him if he did it. He definitely couldn't have murdered her himself. He wasn't here. He had no way to personally poison that cupcake."

I watched as Chance continued to jeer at Tyler, "You're getting what you deserve!"

"Get over yourself!" Tyler retorted as the officer taking him away roughly pushed him forward.

Chance smiled. He'd just wanted a reaction from Tyler. Oh yeah, he knew how to press people's buttons and manipulate those in authority. I really hoped Penelope had been the one to dump him.

Whoa. A light bulb went off in my brain. I knew why I really didn't like Chance. He reminded me of a guy I'd liked freshman year of high school. Wow. That was a weird blast from the past. I hadn't thought about Daniel Harper in ages. I looked over at Chance again. Yeah, Chance even looked like Daniel a little bit. They definitely had the same nose. Regardless, it was his persona that really struck a cord with me.

I'd had a crush on Daniel Harper when I was fourteen. He was popular and I was somewhere in the middle of the high school food chain. He ended up using me to make Piper Paisley jealous. I found out and it completely crushed me. I'd been in love with him before he made it a point to notice me. Then, when I found out it wasn't real... Yeah. It was my first heartbreak. Chance Fox was just like him. I could tell. They had the same presence. Okay, maybe a part of me wanted the murderer to be Chance just to get back at all of the Daniels in the world who thought that they could use people to get what they wanted. Then again, wouldn't that same persona be the exact type of person to murder someone who wasn't doing what he wanted her to do? Maybe Penelope was going to expose Chance in some way. Chance would so not like that. The problem was: how would I even go about finding that out?

I felt a tap on my shoulder, startling me. I turned around to face a guy in his twenties with shaggy hair and a camera around his neck. Easton turned too. Skylar was absorbed in staring at Chance Fox.

"You work here, right?" The shaggy haired cameraman asked us. "Who's that guy?"

He gestured toward the other employees, who were still sitting in a group at the end of the patio. I frowned at him, feeling suspicious. He must be one of the paparazzi, that the police had corralled as a witness to Penelope's suspicious collapse. Was he going to give out our names to some news outlet? I didn't want to be hounded just because I'd witnessed Penelope Rose's murder.

"Why?" I asked.

The guy looked annoyed for a moment, but quickly tried to hide it, "Because I think I recognize him."

"What?" Now I was curious. Why would he recognize one of our employees? I followed his gaze. "Which one?"

"The guy right there?" He pointed at the hipster.

"His name is Nolan," I looked at Easton. "Do you know his last name?"

"No idea," Easton said.

"Nolan, Nolan, Nolan," The photographer said to himself.

I looked at the photographer. "Where do you recognize him from?"

He was definitely annoyed with me now for interrupting his thought process. I swear he almost did an eye roll, "I'm trying to figure that out."

I glanced at Easton. Should I tell him more about Nolan? What if there was a connection to the murder? "Well, I heard he was an actor, but I don't think he's that successful that you would have taken a picture of him..."