Doughnuts & Deadly Schemes - Culinary Competition Mystery #3

Chapter 28

(Amy)

"There are reheating instructions on all of these," Amy said as she stacked the aluminum pans in Carla's freezer. The food care packages were filled with entrees like pulled pork enchiladas, three-meat lasagna, and chicken Alfredo. Her homemade versions of the heat and eat meals from Columbo's Market that Carla loved. "You can use your toaster oven to heat up one meal or the stove's oven if you're both eating one."

"You didn't have to do this, but you know I appreciate it. Especially these cookies. They taste exactly like cherry cheesecake. I love them. One of your best cookie creations ever." Carla slipped her second cookie out from under the plastic wrap covering the plate. "Thanks for bringing them and restocking our kitchen. You've extended our honeymoon by another day. Now we don't need to leave the loft to find food."

Shepler walked into the galley kitchen and grabbed one of the cookies. "Yes. Thank you. After having every meal delivered to our door at the cabin, returning home to an empty refrigerator sucked."

"Sounds like you enjoyed yourselves." Amy placed bottles of milk, orange juice and freshly made limeade in the refrigerator because they would want something other than water or, off-limits for Carla, beer to drink with the meals. "I'm glad you two finally got the chance to relax after everything leading up to the wedding."

"The honeymoon wouldn't have been anywhere near as relaxing if you hadn't helped catch Thane." Carla nodded her head at Shepler. "Even though the psychopath was hanging out behind bars, somebody still had to call his buddies at the police department."

He shrugged. "What can I say? Curiosity almost killed the new husband. That case really had me stumped, so I wanted to know what was happening and make sure he didn't get out on some technicality. I only called the station a couple of times."

Amy didn't blame him. If it weren't for Chuck, she wouldn't have figured out who the killer was either. Thane had hidden his greedy side very well whenever she'd talked to him. Offering to help design her blog, just for references, had really thrown her off track. It was such a generous gesture—totally the opposite of what he was doing in his spare time.

Thane had picked up more than marketing skills at college, thanks to some unsavory computer-savvy roommates. Word of his arrest spread like hot oil through the downtown businesses, and over twenty owners began coming forward, relaying their stories to the police. There was a lot of evidence against him, including a message on Sophie's laptop that revealed the threat was sent from Finley & Crowe's computer network. There didn't appear to be any way he could evade being sent to prison.

"Did you hear that Matt was moved out of ICU?" Amy asked as she flipped shut the lid of the empty cooler she had used to transport the frozen meals. "He's going to be starting physical therapy next week."

Once Matt was awakened from the controlled coma, he finally explained to Sophie what his cryptic dream statement was about. A few days after Luke was killed, Matt began receiving messages saying that Sophie would be harmed if he didn't pay. He went against Shepler's advice and transferred $10,000 into the extortionist's MoneyMover account. Since Sophie had hidden the threats against her from Matt, he didn't know the money wasn't protecting her.

After the murder, Thane bought a new wardrobe, cell phone, and computer with the swindled money. Matt noticed the lifestyle upgrade and asked his nephew how he could suddenly afford the expensive items, despite not receiving a pay raise. The question unnerved Thane. So he decided to make sure his uncle couldn't point out the sudden influx of money to the police. Supplies to make the trash-can bomb, along with the knife that killed Luke, were found in the luxury high-rise apartment Thane had secretly moved into a few days after he committed the heartless murder.

"Good to know that Finley's doing better. I hadn't heard that." Shepler poured himself a glass of milk and grabbed two more cookies. "It will take a long time to heal the mental scars, too. He was trying to help the kid out by giving him a job. It's going to be difficult for him to come to terms with all of the damage that was done by someone in his own family."

"Sophie will be there for Matt. She's already started making changes at Riverbend so she can spend more time with him, to help with his recovery." The smaller menu at the café was still in place. Sophie had also decided to cut out dinner service several evenings a week on days that had historically seen fewer customers anyway. "Before this happened, she was really afraid of the relationship getting too serious. Now she's totally committed to Matt. Kind of reminds me of another formerly commitment-phobic friend."

Carla blinked her eyes rapidly as she shrugged. "I in no way resemble that remark. You can't get much more committed to a man beyond having his baby."

"I said former." Amy laughed. The changes in Carla's life brought on by the relationship with Shepler were astounding, in a very good way. She had never believed that Carla was truly happy keeping her very infrequent relationships carefree and casual. "At least you had an excellent reason for the quickie wedding, even if you didn't let me in on the secret."

"If it makes you feel better, nobody knew except Bruce. I wanted to make it through the first trimester, just to make sure everything was going okay with the pregnancy. My plan was to tell you over a nice lunch this week, not in the middle of a hostage crisis."

Amy gently patted Carla's stomach. "I'm just happy everything worked out the way it did. I hope you realize that since there wasn't time for me to give you a bridal shower, I'm already planning a fabulous baby shower."