Wrapped in Murder (The Darling Deli Series Book 19) Read online

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  WRAPPED IN MURDER

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  EPILOGUE

  Wrapped

  In

  Murder

  Book Nineteen in the Darling Deli Series

  By

  Patti Benning

  Copyright 2017 Summer Prescott Books

  All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication nor any of the information herein may be quoted from, nor reproduced, in any form, including but not limited to: printing, scanning, photocopying or any other printed, digital, or audio formats, without prior express written consent of the copyright holder.

  **This book is a work of fiction. Any similarities to persons, living or dead, places of business, or situations past or present, is completely unintentional.

  Author’s Note: On the next page, you’ll find out how to access all of my books easily, as well as locate books by best-selling author, Summer Prescott. I’d love to hear your thoughts on my books, the storylines, and anything else that you’d like to comment on – reader feedback is very important to me. Please see the following page for my publisher’s contact information. If you’d like to be on her list of “folks to contact” with updates, release and sales notifications, etc…just shoot her an email and let her know. Thanks for reading!

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  http://summerprescottbooks.com/book-catalog/ for some truly delicious stories.

  WRAPPED IN

  MURDER

  Book Nineteen in the Darling Deli Series

  CHAPTER ONE

  * * *

  Moira Darling paused before going inside, closing her eyes and breathing in deeply. It was still officially winter, but spring had come early in northern Michigan. The air was pleasantly warm, the skies were blue, and there was a brisk breeze. For the first time in months, she hadn’t even had to put on a light jacket before heading to work. It seemed a shame to waste the best part of the day inside, but at least she had been able to spend the morning on the back porch, enjoying the weather.

  After a moment, she turned and pushed her way through the front door of Darling’s DELIcious Delights, the deli she owned. The sights and scents inside were as familiar to her as those of her own home. She smiled as the peace that she always felt when she went into work washed over her. She might not get to enjoy the warm weather outside, but thanks to the large pane glass windows in the front of the building, she would still be able to appreciate the beautiful day.

  Allison, a bright young woman with blonde hair who bore a striking resemblance to her daughter Candice, greeted her with the familiar, “Hey, Ms. D,” as she walked in.

  “Good afternoon, Allison. How did the morning go?”

  “Everything was great. We had lots of sales. More than usual, even — I think because it’s so nice out. A lot of people walked to school or work, when they would normally drive.”

  “I might have done the same, if I lived in town. It really is wonderful out.”

  “I know. I might see if Candice wants to go to the beach with me after work. It’s still too cold to swim, but the dunes will be nice.” Not only did they look like they could be sisters, but the two women had become fast friends the moment they met.

  “That sounds like a great idea. If it’s still nice this weekend, maybe I’ll grab the dogs and go myself.”

  She thought for a moment about trying to plan an outing with David, but knew it wouldn’t pan out. With his microbrewery open and operating now, he barely had time for anything else besides work.

  Moira glanced over at the drink cooler, which now held some of the very first batches of the beer that David’s brewery had produced. Her customers were quick to purchase the drinks from Big Black Dog Brewery, and she was almost out of the original stock already. She smiled at the sight of Maverick’s silhouette on the label. It had been difficult to get the German shepherd to hold still long enough for a good photo, but the final result had been worth the struggle.

  “Well, if it’s alright with you, Ms. D, I’m going to take off,” Allison said, distracting her from her thoughts. “Cameron’s in the back working on something for St. Patrick’s Day. He didn’t want to tell me what it was until he got it right, but I’m sure he’ll tell you.”

  The deli owner chuckled. “Whatever it is, I’m sure it will taste good. Go enjoy your day. Tell Candice I said hi.”

  Once Allison had clocked out and left, Moira headed into the kitchen to see what her other employee was working on. Cameron was a tall redhead who had been at the deli for just over six months. He was skilled in the kitchen, and had a confidence that some of her other employees seemed to lack — quite possibly because he had no worries about what would happen if he lost his job. Moira was one of just a few people that knew how wealthy he was; he only worked at the deli to give him something to do, and to let him be closer to the woman he loved.

  “Hey, Ms. D,” he said, looking up when she came in. “How’s it goin’?”

  “I’m doing well,” she said. “How are you? How are things with Jenny?”

  “Great,” he said, beaming.

  “What are you making?”

  “Oh, a few things. I’m just trying to figure out how to make our menu items green for St. Patrick’s Day, but still keep them appetizing,” he said. “I thought you might want to pick some sort of a theme for the holiday.”

  “That sounds like a great idea. What do you have so far?”

  “Split pea soup, some ham and cheese on top of a lettuce wrap… oh, and these. I ordered the silicone molds from the same person that makes them for Candice.”

  He grabbed a plate and held it out proudly. Moira admired the four-leaf-clover-shaped, bite-sized brownies. They were dark green, and had shiny green icing on top. She tried one.

  “Wow, these are great, Cam,” she said. “I don’t know why I didn’t think of doing something like this sooner. We’ll need to make holiday-themed treats for Easter, as well. Good job.”

  He grinned. “Cool, I’m glad you like them. I always enjoyed St. Patrick’s Day. It’s a fun holiday, but nothing closes down for it. Gotta say, all of that green goes nicely with my hair.”

  “Well, I’ll pick up some decorations in the next few days,” she said, laughing. “Then you guys can go to town with decorating. In the meantime, though, I need to get to work. I noticed we’re low on some of the drinks out front. Do we still have more in the fridge back here?”

  “No, actually, the stuff in the cooler is all that’s left,” he said. “David’s beer is popular. When I tell people that it was made right here in town, they just buy it up.”

  “Most people in the area like buying local products,” she said. “I think it’s one of the reasons the deli was such a success; we use as much local produce as possible. People love knowing that they are supporting their neighbors.”

  “True,” he said.

  “Anyway, I’ll let David know we need another order of his beer. I’m glad it’s been so successful. He’ll be happy.”

  Even though it meant that he was gone all the time, Moira supported
her husband in his new hobby completely. She knew that he was enjoying the change of pace from his job as a private investigator. Of course, working two jobs meant that he had twice as many demands on him. She hoped that once he got a good foothold in the industry, things would settle down. Between the time that he spent at the office and the time spent at the brewery, he was never home. It was almost as if she didn’t have a husband at all.

  CHAPTER TWO

  * * *

  “Maverick, no!”

  It was too late. Gazing up at her happily, the big dog shook himself, sending water droplets flying everywhere. The air might be warm, but the water from the river in the park was still icy cold. Moira winced and wiped her face off before looking over at her husband. David was grinning.

  “You’re the one that threw the stick into the water,” he pointed out. “He was just bringing it back to you.”

  “I didn’t need him to bring back half the river as well,” she grumbled, but she wasn’t really mad. It was another beautiful day, and when David had suggested they take the afternoon off and spend it together, she had been happy to cancel her plans. The dogs were happy, too; since they lived on five acres of wooded property, Moira didn’t often make a point of bringing them into town for walks, so a romp through the small park by the site of her old house was a real treat.

  It was still early afternoon, and schools weren’t out yet, so they had the park almost completely to themselves. Keeva was walking sedately along the path next to David, but Maverick was zipping back and forth as much as his leash would allow. Moira had brought a twenty-foot leash with them to give him some extra room to explore. She would have loved to be able to let both dogs off leash, but she wasn’t sure they would listen to her in such a new and exciting area. They were both friendly, but if the two large dogs came running toward someone, they were liable to induce a heart attack. Not for the first time, she wished there was a dog park in Maple Creek.

  “I’m sorry we haven’t been able to go out much lately,” he said to her as they began walking again.

  “Don’t worry about it,” she said. “I remember how busy I was when I first opened the deli. You’re working two jobs now, it’s bound to take some getting used to.”

  “Still, I shouldn’t be doing so much that I have no time for you. Making time for family is important, too. I’m going to talk to Karissa when she gets here about hiring someone to help out around the brewery — just to be there and make sure everything is going smoothly, do quality control, little stuff like that — so I can have a more flexible schedule.”

  “You just opened the place, I don’t know if you should hire someone right — wait, Karissa’s meeting us here?”

  “I didn’t tell you? She sent me a message right before we left. She said she had something she needs to talk to me about. I hope that’s alright.”

  Moira bit back a sigh. She liked David’s sister, but she had hoped today could be just about them. She looked up and saw the worry in her husband’s eyes, and knew he hadn’t meant to upset her.

  “It’s fine,” she said, giving him a smile. “It will be nice to see her. I know she’s been working hard, too. Maybe after the walk, we can drop the dogs off at home, and then all go out to eat?”

  “That sounds good with me,” he said, grinning at her and then leaning down for a kiss.

  “There you are!”

  Moira jolted slightly, and looked up to see a tall, dark-haired woman striding toward them. Karissa looked harried. I hope nothing’s wrong, she thought.

  “I’m glad you found us,” David said, turning to give his sister a quick hug. “What’s going on? What was so important that it couldn’t wait?”

  “I got a call from Dan Anderson this morning — he found someone trying to break into the brewery! He said he couldn’t get in touch with you, your phone must have been dead. I went to the police station, and David, it was Bill Snethkamp.”

  It took Moira a second to sort through the names. Dan Anderson was the person David was renting the building the brewery was housed in from. Bill Snethkamp… who was that? The name was familiar, but she couldn’t remember where she had heard it before.

  “What was Snethkamp doing snooping around the brewery?” David asked, his voice dangerous in a way Moira had only heard a handful of times.

  “What do you think? He tried telling the police he had a meeting with us, but that was obviously a lie. He must have been trying to steal our recipe. Either that, or sabotage us.”

  Suddenly, Moira remembered. Bill Snethkamp was the name of David’s main competitor. He had a microbrewery in a town an hour south of Maple Creek, and hadn’t been happy when David had started producing his own drafts. She felt a prickle of anger on behalf of her husband.

  “Thanks for taking care of it, Karissa,” he said. “I can’t believe his gall, though I guess I should take it as a good sign.”

  “A good sign?” Karissa asked. She sounded surprised.

  “Well, if we’re making enough of a ripple in the sales market for him to try to sabotage us, we must be doing pretty well.”

  “I suppose that’s true, but still…” the dark-haired woman shook her head. “I just can’t believe someone would sink so low. Hi, Moira, by the way. I didn’t mean to ignore you. It’s nice to see you again.”

  “You, too,” Moira said. “And don’t worry about it. I’m pretty upset at Snethkamp myself. Thank goodness Mr. Anderson caught him.”

  “I know. I shudder to think what could have happened if he hadn’t been caught before he got inside. He could have burned the place down.”

  “Hopefully it wouldn’t have gone that far,” said David. “I’ll upgrade the security system as soon as possible.”

  “This makes the idea I had for St. Patrick’s Day seem unfeasible,” Karissa said with a sigh. “I thought we might do a tour of the brewery, but if someone is trying to sabotage us, we really can’t.”

  “I like that idea,” David said. “We can just keep an eye on people.”

  “It’s too risky.”

  “What do you think, Moira?”

  “Me? I don’t know. I think offering tours of the microbrewery on St. Patrick’s Day — maybe with some free samples — sounds like a great idea, but if someone’s been trying to sneak into the brewery, then opening the doors to the public might not be ideal.”

  “I don’t want to let Snethkamp’s actions dictate what I do. We’ll just keep an eye out for him. I think it will be okay,” David said. “I’m going to see if I can get an ad put in the paper this Sunday. It’s going to be the perfect holiday to celebrate craft beer.”

  “I hope you know what you’re doing,” Karissa sniffed. “If Snethkamp shows his face around there again, I’m calling the cops.”

  CHAPTER THREE

  * * *

  The day before St. Patrick’s Day, Moira met her daughter for lunch. The small diner in Lake Marion was one of her favorite places to grab a quick bite, other than her own deli, of course. They sat in their usual booth by the window and ordered their drinks while perusing the menu.

  “What are you in the mood for?” Candice asked her mother. “I can’t decide.”

  “I’m thinking about going with the fish and chips today. It’s a good old-fashioned meal, and fried fish sounds like it would hit the spot.”

  “Hmm, I think I might get the club sandwich.” The young woman put down her menu and looked around. “It’s not very busy, I wonder where our waitress went?”

  “Are you in a hurry?” Moira asked.

  “No, I’m just hungry.”

  “Me, too. I’m glad you called me when you did. I was just about to grab lunch at the deli before going home.”

  “I was going to meet up with Eli, but he had to cancel at the last minute and go meet Reggie at the hospital. Sorry it was so last-minute.”

  “Oh, no. Is he alright?”

  Eli’s grandfather, Reggie, was a friend of Moira’s. He lived at the local assisted living center, and had experi
enced a growing number of health issues in the past year.

  “He’s fine, or I would have gone, too,” Candice assured her. “He fell, and they took him in just as a precaution. Sorry, I didn’t mean it to sound like you were a second choice.”

  “I know,” Moira said, chuckling. “I’m glad Reggie’s okay. He needs to be more careful.”

  “You should tell him that,” Candice said, grinning. “Say it to his face. Please?”

  “I’m not that brave,” she replied, laughing. “Oh, here’s our waitress. Get whatever you want. It’s my treat, sweetie.”

  After their food came, the two women ate in silence for a few minutes. Moira was glad to be able to spend time with her daughter, even when they were just sitting near each other in companionable silence. Things had changed so much in the past few years, and they didn’t see each other anywhere near as much as they used to. She missed living with her daughter, though of course the privacy that she had with David in their little stone house was nice.

  “So, how are your plans for the wedding coming?” she asked her daughter at last. “Any luck setting the location?”

  At first, Candice had planned to have a small local wedding, but when Reggie had offered to pay for a destination wedding, the young couple had jumped at the chance. Moira didn’t blame them; the wedding would be the biggest day of their young lives. They deserved for it to be special.

  “We still aren’t sure,” Candice replied. “I know we have to decide soon; we have to get the invitations out in time for people to make arrangements for travel. You’re sure you’ll be able to come no matter when we have it?”

  “Of course. That’s one of the perks of being the boss.”

  “And you’re still okay with watching Felix while we’re on our honeymoon?”

  “I love that little cat, sweetheart. He’s always welcome at my house.”