Banana Muffins & Mayhem - Culinary Competition Mystery #5

Chapter 20

(Amy)

Amy slid her leg sideways so that it was sitting in the ray of warm sunshine. She flexed her foot to try to loosen the tight, sore muscles in her ankle. But that wasn't her only aching body part. According to Geri, the explosion had propelled the Jeep several feet into the air. When it slammed down onto the pavement, she and Alex were tossed around inside, their limbs slamming into the dashboard, center console, and various other hard surfaces. Getting out of bed had been an agonizing chore for her and Alex that morning. As they lay under the sheets discussing what to do, they had decided to go about business as usual. Or at least as well as they physically could after playing the part of the prize inside the exploding Jeep piñata.

According to her very mechanically savvy husband, there was no mechanical explanation for the explosion, but no evidence had been found by police investigators yet to confirm that it was a bomb. The charred Jeep had been removed from Main Street and taken to the state police crime lab. But pieces of an explosive device could've been blown onto rooftops or washed away in gutters when the fire was extinguished. There was a chance that no evidence was left on the melted wreckage.

Alex figured that the twisted person behind the threats, fire, and explosion was very likely watching him. He refused to give them the satisfaction of seeing how scared and hurt he really was. So after slowly getting ready, to a soundtrack of groans and gasps whenever a new ache was discovered, Amy drove him to Quantum to begin his workday.

If her husband could be brave, so could she. For her act of defiance, she was sitting in plain sight in the sunny window of Riverbend Café. News of the accident had spread throughout the downtown businesses faster than the fire had spread through the doomed vehicle. She was greeted with crushing hugs from Sophie and most of the staff with whom she was scheduled to work with the following morning. After being given unlimited time off to recover, Amy retreated to the warmest spot she could find in the dining area, with a vanilla cinnamon latte in one hand and an apricot bar in the other. She had warmed up some frozen muffins and managed to make a pot of coffee at home, but a second caffeine-drenched, sugar-filled breakfast could only improve her mood, especially when the meal came from the café.

Amy tilted her head to the side to stretch out her tender neck muscles. Waiting for Detective Foster to make an arrest wasn't working for her anymore. She wouldn't wait around to be killed while the detective accused half of the town of leading secret lives behind their spouse's backs. Who, if anybody, was the detective's top suspect? Amy had no idea, but she did know who was at the top of her list.

She made a quick phone call. There was just enough time to finish the midmorning meal before she had to leave for the meeting she had set up. After eating every crumb of the dense cake filled with dried fruit and nuts, she set the plate in the dirty dishes bin near the trash can then gave Sophie a quick hug. Outside on the sidewalk, it felt as though she was being watched. Then she realized people were probably looking at her slowly limping along. Her gate wasn't elegant, but she made it back to the Mini, which was parked at the end of the block. She awkwardly dropped into the driver's seat. Gracefully completing the maneuver wasn't possible, so she settled for accuracy. The last thing she needed was to end up sitting on the pavement instead of inside her car.

Sliding back out from underneath the steering wheel a while later in the K Hotel parking lot wasn't any more fun. Her muscles had locked into the sitting position and were protesting being straightened out again to stand. She steeled herself for the walk through the lobby and into the central courtyard. If she tried really hard, there was a chance she could manage not to move like an arthritic eighty-year-old woman. A perpetual case of food poisoning wouldn't be enough revenge for the person who had made her feel so terrible. Not to mention, there was now a small bald spot on the back of her head around the line of stitches. Her hair would never grow back on the scar. Yup. Someone needed to pay big-time. But was she zeroed in on the correct someone...or someones?