The Heart of Murder Read online

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  THE HEART OF 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

  EPILOGUE

  The Heart

  of

  Murder

  Asheville Cozy Mysteries

  Book Three

  By

  Patti Benning

  Copyright 2018 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.

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  THE HEART OF

  MURDER

  Asheville Cozy Mysteries

  Book Three

  CHAPTER ONE

  * * *

  “Here you go, Mr. Sullivan. A shredded chicken taco, seasoned rice, and freshly made salsa. Is there anything else I can get you?”

  “No, thank you. It looks perfect.” He smiled. “Make sure you give my compliments to the chef.”

  Autumn Roth chuckled. “I’ll make sure to tell her.”

  She returned to the kitchen and counted the plates that were remaining on the counter. Most of the residents had already been served, which meant that there were a handful of extra servings. Perfect, she thought. I’m hungry.

  Working at Asheville Meadows, Asheville’s only nursing home, was a lot more work than she had expected, though she enjoyed it every bit as much as she had hoped that she would. Now that she was a full-time cook, she often made three meals a day for the residents — and had to cook enough to serve over thirty people each time. Nothing that she had done in the past had prepared her for it, not even her family’s busy holiday meals. Even though she often found herself scrambling around the kitchen, trying to keep multiple dishes on track at once, putting the finishing touches on a meal once it was complete was one of the most satisfying feelings in the world. For the first time in her life, she was making a real difference, each and every day.

  “Ms. Roth, Annie Dennis knocked her water glass over on her plate. We have a spare, right?”

  “Right over there. And I told you to call me Autumn, Emily. I’m not your boss here.”

  “Right.” The young woman flashed her a smile. “Sorry, I keep forgetting.”

  She grabbed the plate and hurried out of the kitchen. This is why I make extra every night, Autumn thought. She decided to wait to eat her meal until after dinner was over, just in case any other mishaps occurred.

  Autumn peeked out through the kitchen door to see where her aunt and uncle were. The table they were sitting at was full, and Uncle Albert was deep in conversation with one of his friends. Aunt Lucy, who had suffered a stroke, was listening intently, but couldn’t join in. I can’t imagine how frustrating it must be for her, Autumn thought as she walked over to the sink and turned on the hot water. She always had so much to say. She began scrubbing the pots and pans she had used while preparing the meal, pausing occasionally to listen to the hum of conversation from the dining area. She had only been working at the nursing home full-time for a short while, but already knew that she had made the right decision when she had accepted the job. It wasn’t anything like working at the Green River Grocery had been. While she hadn’t disliked managing the grocery store, she had never woken up in the morning feeling excited to go to work. Now that she had a job that she was passionate about, it was as if her entire life had changed.

  Someone knocked against the frame of the kitchen doorway. Autumn turned to see Emily standing at the open door. She turned off the water and dried her hands. “Do you need another plate?”

  “No.” The young woman shook her head. “There’s someone here to see you, Ms. R — Autumn.”

  “Oh.” She raised her eyebrows, running the possibilities through her head. None of them made sense. Nick would just come into the kitchen if he wanted to see her. Her aunt and uncle, of course, were busy eating, and her best friend, Alicia, didn’t have any reason to stop in while she was working. “Who is it?”

  “Some lady,” Emily said. “I didn’t get her name. Sorry, I probably should have.”

  “That’s fine. I’ll go see her. The dishes can wait.”

  A lady, she thought. Well, that crosses out my last guess. There’s no reason Brandon would want to stop in here, anyway. Brandon was her ex, and she had seen him only a handful of times since their breakup just before Christmas. Now, her curiosity was truly piqued. Who had wanted to see her badly enough that they had come to find her at work?

  She followed Emily through the dining area, giving her aunt and uncle a quick wave as she passed them, and headed toward the common area and front entrance. Sure enough, there was a woman standing by the front doors, bundled up in a coat and grasping her purse with both hands. She looked familiar, but try as she might, Autumn couldn’t remember where she might have seen her before.

  “Autumn?” the woman said, straightening up as she approached.

  “Yes?” Autumn cleared her throat, hoping that she didn’t sound as confused as she sounded. “Who are you?”

  “I’m Amelia O’Hara,” she said. “I… well, do you remember me?”

  “Sorry, but I don’t think I do.” She frowned. “Wait, you’re that woman who attacked me in that restaurant, aren’t you? You’re Brandon’s ex.”

  “I didn’t attack you,” Amelia said. Her cheeks were beginning to redden. “It was just a glass of water.”

  “It was wine, and it completely wrecked my blouse. What do you want? I’m not seeing him anymore.”

  “I know. That’s actually why I’m here. He contacted me a few days ago, and before it goes any further, well, I wanted to talk to you.”

  “I’m working. Now really isn’t the best time.”

  “That’s fine,” the woman said quickly as Autumn turned to go. “I just wanted to come give you my number myself. I asked him to do it, but I don’t think he actually did.�
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  “No, he didn’t.” She hesitated, then added, “I can call you tomorrow morning, if you’d like.”

  “Thank you,” Amelia said, looking relieved. “Here, I’ll write down my number for you. Thank you so much.”

  Autumn took the scribbled phone number from the other woman, then watched as she walked away, pausing at the doors just long enough for one of the staff members to enter the code to let her out. That was odd, she thought, glancing down at the phone number. She was ready to leave Brandon firmly in her past, so what did his ex-fiancé want with her now?

  “Who was that?” said a curious voice from behind her.

  Autumn turned to see her current… well, she didn’t know if she could call him a boyfriend, since they had only been on a handful of dates. Nicholas Holt was Asheville Meadow’s director, and her occasional dinner and movie companion. She liked him, more than she would admit to anyone besides Alicia, and wasn’t sure she wanted to bring up Brandon and his semi-crazy ex-fiancé just then.

  “Just an acquaintance,” she said, skirting the truth. “She thought that work would be the best place to catch me. I guess I’m hard to get in touch with.”

  “I’m glad she managed to find you.” He smiled at her. “Are we still on for tomorrow night?”

  “Yes,” Autumn said. She pushed the thoughts of Amelia out of her mind. She would call her later and figure out what she wanted, but until then, there was no point in dwelling on it. “I’m looking forward to it.”

  “So am I. You’ve been working hard this week. You deserve a break.”

  “It will feel weird not to come in at all this weekend. Are you sure the other cook is okay with it?”

  “I’m sure. She requested weekends specifically, because that’s when her husband is available to watch the baby. So, for the foreseeable future, you’ll have weekends off, plus a couple of mornings during the week.”

  “I feel like I hardly do enough as it is. I’m excited to meet her, though.” Caitlin was the nursing home’s other chef. She had worked full time in the past, but had been out on maternity leave for the past six weeks. She had heard a lot about the other woman, but didn’t even know what she looked like. I hope we end up being friends, she thought. The two of them would be sharing the kitchen on holidays and other busy times, and would be sharing menu planning duties every month as well.

  “She’s eager to meet you too. I know she’s very grateful to you for picking up the work when we found ourselves short. Like you, she really cares about this place. Her mother stayed here until she passed away early last year. I think the two of you will get along. She has a little dog, too. I don’t remember which breed, but she adores it.”

  “She sounds like someone I’d like to get to know.” She smiled at him. “I should be getting back to the kitchen, I guess. I’ve got dishes to finish, and then dessert to serve. It’s chocolate pudding with raspberries and dark chocolate shavings on top tonight. I’ll save you a serving if you’d like.”

  “Hide it behind the milk in the fridge. I’ll grab it tomorrow morning. I’m actually on my way out right now. I just got a call from my security company about an alert on one of my windows at home. I’m sure it’s nothing, but I’ve got to meet the police there anyway.”

  “Oh, wow. Good luck, I hope it’s a false alarm.”

  “Me too,” he said. “I’ve had a couple of them over the past few months, so I’m not too worried. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  She waved goodbye, then turned to head back to the kitchen. With two days off from work and a date with Nick to look forward to, her weekend seemed promising.

  CHAPTER TWO

  * * *

  “Which lipstick should I use, Frankie? Should I keep it subtle?”

  She looked over her shoulder at the cairn terrier, who was sitting in the bathroom doorway, staring at her. The dog cocked her head to the side, as if trying to puzzle out Autumn’s question.

  “Subtle it is,” she said, turning back to the mirror. She had a habit of talking to her dog when she was alone, and figured that it was better than talking to herself. She wouldn’t start worrying about her sanity until the dog began to speak back to her.

  After applying the lipstick with care, she examined herself critically in the mirror. She didn’t look bad, but she thought she still needed a little something extra. Something that would make her really stand out. The butterflies that she felt whenever she thought of Nick wouldn’t let her relax until she felt not just pretty, but perfect.

  Careful not to get any lipstick on her teeth, she pursed her lips, then bent down to retrieve the curling iron from underneath the sink. My face is fine, she decided. It’s my hair that could use a little extra oomph. She laid the curling iron on the bathroom counter and turned it on. While it started to heat up, she left the room and grabbed a small black purse from her bedroom closet. She dumped her overly large daily purse out on the bed and began to pick through it for what she would need on her date tonight. Her wallet, of course, and the compact mirror, and —

  She paused, staring at the little piece of paper in her hand. It took her a moment to remember whose number was scribbled on it. She felt a pang of guilt when she realized that after shoving the number in her purse, she had completely forgotten to call Amelia. Sure, she hardly knew the woman and didn’t owe her anything, but she had promised to call, and she liked to think of herself as a woman who kept her promises. I’ll call her tomorrow, she told herself. There’s no going back in time, and I have to finish getting ready for my date.

  Fifteen minutes later, her hair loosely curled and her small black purse in her hand, Autumn said a final goodbye to Frankie, giving the dog a quick kiss on top of the head, and slipped out the front door. In a kind gesture, one of her neighbors had plowed her driveway after the last snowfall. While she appreciated it, the piled-up snow left only enough room for her own car to park, so Nick was forced to pull up alongside the curb. She hurried down her driveway, skirting clumps of snow, and nearly collided with someone who was walking down the sidewalk.

  “Sorry,” she gasped.

  “It’s fine,” the man said. He put a hand out to steady her. She took a moment to catch her balance, then hurried the rest of the way to Nick’s car, calling out a second “sorry” as she did so.

  She opened the passenger side door and got in, waving at her neighbor who had watched the near-accident from his front porch as she did so. She was embarrassed; Nick always caused her to be so flustered. She had never been that way with Brandon, and didn’t know if she would ever get used to it.

  “Are you all right?” he asked, looking over at her with concern. “I saw you almost fall. I was going to come up to your door, you didn’t have to hurry.”

  “I know,” she said. “I would have felt bad if you had to walk through the snow, though. And people really aren’t supposed to park on the street in this neighborhood. I need to figure out a way to clear the rest of the driveway.”

  “I’ll help you,” he offered. “I can come over tomorrow and help you shovel it.”

  “I wouldn’t want to ask you to do that,” she said, making a face. “Thanks for picking me up, though. I’ve been looking forward to tonight.”

  “Me too.” He smiled at her, then pulled away from the curb. “It’s nice seeing you at Asheville Meadows every day, but it’s not the same as spending time one on one.”

  She agreed with that. Seeing him at work wasn’t at all the same as going on a date with him. She never knew quite how to act with him at the nursing home. Should their relationship be professional, or was it okay to be more casual with him? Did anyone else know they were seeing each other, besides her aunt and uncle? She knew that she should probably just ask him those questions, but she never seemed to be able to get up the courage to do it.

  Their date that evening was in the next town over, at a restaurant called the Cardinal Steakhouse. Autumn had never been there, and was glad that she had gone the extra mile to get dressed up earlier that even
ing. The interior was beautiful, the decor balanced somewhere between rustic and fancy. The walls and peaked ceiling were made of exposed logs, and the tables were small, with white tablecloths and real candles. She was thrilled, though not surprised. Nick had never taken her to the same place twice, and never seemed to run out of ideas for nice dates.

  “So, how are you settling in?” he asked after they had been seated. “Are you happy with your schedule?”

  “I couldn’t be happier,” she told him. “Compared to the grocery store, the hours are great. I even have enough time to run home and let Frankie out between meals. I know I’ve said it already, but thank you so much for hiring me.”

  “Thank you for stepping up to the plate,” he said. “We were in a tough place, and you’ve really made a difference. Everyone’s been complimenting your cooking, and the other employees all seem to like you. I’m glad it’s working out, though of course I knew it would. I’m still sorry about what happened at the grocery store. Have you seen Jed since it closed?”