Sugar Coated Murder Read online

  Moira spent the rest of her shift planning what she was going to do. Candice was her greatest concern. She had spent eighteen years being responsible for her daughter's life, and even though the young woman was an adult now, the need to protect her didn't just go away. The thought of Candice staying in a town where someone was prepared to kill to get her to leave chilled Moira to the core. Her daughter was everything to her, and she wouldn't be able to think straight until she knew Candice was safe.

  It wasn't until they were in the car and on their way home that Moira broached the subject. “I think you should leave this evening.”

  Her daughter didn't respond, and the deli owner risked a glance over to find that the young woman was staring at her. “What? Why?”

  “This whole thing with the candy shop… I don't think it's safe for you here.”

  “What do you mean? A little bit of graffiti isn't going to chase me away. This is my home just as much as it is yours, you know.”

  “Candice…” Moira bit her lip, then decided to tell her daughter the whole truth. “When Detective Jefferson came to talk to me today, he told me that they had discovered that the young man who died, Bryan, had been strangled to death before being thrown out the window. His death wasn't an accident. It was murder.”

  Her daughter inhaled sharply. “You should've told me right away.”

  “I didn't want to worry you,” Moira said. Her daughter had looked so happy while she was working, and the deli owner hadn't wanted to wreck that.

  “Do you think that the person who killed him is the same one who did the graffiti?”

  “I don't know, but I don't want to take the chance. If the two crimes are connected, then you can see why it wouldn't be safe for you to stay here.”

  “I can't just go away, Mom. If someone got killed because I'm not wanted in town, then that means that it's my fault that they died. How can you expect me to just drive back home and sit in my apartment knowing that someone is dead because of me?”

  “How can you expect me to be okay with you staying here knowing that someone is willing to kill to see your candy shop shut down?”

  “I'm not leaving,” Candice said. Out of the corner of her eye, Moira saw her daughter cross her arms over her chest. “I'm going to stay until Tuesday, like we had planned. We're going to have a nice Mother's Day together, I'm going to see if I can talk to Mr. Litchfield about plans for the candy shop, and I'm not going to let some criminal scare me away. This town is my home, and the candy shop is my responsibility.”

  Moira sighed. She supposed that she should have expected this. Candice could be stubborn, and she knew that if she was in her daughter's position, she wouldn't want to leave either.

  “Just… promise me you’ll be careful,” she said at last. “Don't go anywhere alone. Always lock your car doors. Keep your phone on you at all times.”

  “I'll be careful, Mom,” Candice promised. “You know I always am.”

  “Does that mean that you'll stay in tonight?”

  “I still want to go out with Allison. You and she are the only ones that even know where we're going, so it should be perfectly safe. Probably even safer than staying at the house.”

  “Well, at least tell Allison about this so she can keep her eyes open too.”

  “I will. Remember, we don't even know whether the crimes are connected or not. Try not to worry so much, Mom.”

  Moira shook her head, a small smile forming on her lips. She knew that there was no chance of that.

  When they got home that afternoon, Moira walked around the house making sure that all of the windows and doors were shut and locked. She knew that Candice thought that she was being paranoid, but she didn't want to take the chance of someone getting in. After that, she called her husband.

  “When will you be home?” she asked.

  “In a couple of hours,” he said. “Why?”

  “I want to talk to you about something. I think Candice should hear your point of view as well.”

  “Well, I could come home now, then go out again later. I promised Lenny I'd help him with the case he’s working on right now, but I don't think he'd mind if we delayed it for a couple of hours.”

  “If you don't think he’ll mind, then that would be good. I just want someone to talk some sense into our daughter.”

  She knew that David was curious, but he didn't ask what was going on. He just agreed to be there soon, then said his goodbyes and hung up. Moira sat down on the couch, wondering what new argument she could come up with to keep her daughter safely inside. This weekend wasn't going at all like she had wanted it to, and she found herself hoping that it would be over soon, just so that she would know her daughter was out of danger.

  It wasn't long before she saw David's car pulling up the driveway. She let him in the house and they walked together toward the kitchen, where Candice was cleaning up the dishes from their breakfast.

  “Hi,” she said, looking up, surprised. “Is everything okay? I thought you wouldn't be home until later.”

  David just turned to look at Moira, raising his eyebrows. The deli owner blushed. “I wanted him to talk to you, too,” she said. “David, Jefferson told me that the young man who died was killed before he was pushed out the window, which means that someone murdered him. I think it's too dangerous for Candice to stay in town. For all we know, the same person that told her to get out of town is the one who killed him.”

  “I doubt I can say anything that you haven't already,” David said. “Besides, we don't know what's going on. And it's late. Do you really want your daughter driving home alone in the dark when someone might be after her?”

  “But…”

  “I know you're worried, but the safest place for her right now is with other people. Moira…” He put his hand on her shoulder. “She's a smart girl, and she will be able to take care of herself. Let her stay here, where people know her and can protect her. Everything will be okay, I promise.”

  The deli owner sighed. Her daughter beamed. It looked like Moira had lost another battle, and now she would have to spend the evening wondering if her daughter would come home to her in one piece.

  Chapter Ten

  * * *

  Later that night, after David had gone to work with Lenny and Candice had left for her evening out with Allison, Moira found herself at home alone except for the dogs. She was usually comfortable with being alone there, but tonight she couldn't stop thinking about everything that had happened at the candy shop. For the first time, she realized that she herself might be in danger.

  Feeling chilled by the thought, she shut all the curtains on the first story and grabbed her cell phone, settling down on the couch with the dogs at her feet to call Martha. It would be nice to hear a friendly voice, even if she was still alone in the house.

  “Hey,” Martha said. Moira could tell by the noise coming over the phone that her friend was somewhere busy.

  “Is now a good time to talk?” Moira asked.

  “I've got a few minutes,” her friend said. “What's going on?”

  “A lot,” Moira admitted. “If you’re busy now, though, I won't get into it.”

  “Are you okay? Do you want us to come over?”

  “Us?”

  “Yeah… I'm at the Grill right now. Denise and I were just about to go out to see a movie together.”

  Moira bit her lip. It would be nice to have the company, but she still hadn't figured things out with Denise. Tonight is as good of a time as any to start, she thought.

  “Actually, if you don't mind, I really would like the company.”

  “Okay.” Martha sounded surprised. “I'll go tell Denise, then. We'll see you in a little bit.”

  Moira said her goodbyes and hung up, already wondering what she was getting herself into. Did she really need the added stress of talking to Denise on top of everything else that was happening? The answer was no, but at the same time, she didn't want to be alone in the house for longer than she had to. If some
one really was after Candice, then the little stone house would be the first place they would check.

  When the dogs started barking a few minutes later, she jumped up and was halfway to the door before she froze. If Denise and Martha had been at the Redwood Grill, then there was no way that they would have been able to get there that quickly. Feeling as if ice was running through her veins, Moira slowly approached the door and peeked out the window beside it but saw nothing. The porch light was off. She reached for it, then hesitated. If she turned it on, then if someone was outside they would know exactly where in the house she was.

  The dogs were still barking. Maverick was standing beside her at the door, but Keeva was running back and forth from the living room window to the hallway. Biting her lip, Moira decided to go upstairs. All of the lights were off on the second level, so if there was a trespasser in the yard, they wouldn't be able to see her shadow outlined against the windows. Once her eyes adjusted, she might be able to see enough of the yard to figure out what was going on.

  I might be paranoid, she thought as she climbed the stairs, but after telling Candice to be safe and keep her eyes open, I can't really do anything less.

  Maverick had followed her up the stairs and fell silent as he walked behind her. Moira made her way to the bedroom and tugged the curtain aside slowly, pressing her face against the glass to look out. It took her eyes a moment to adjust. The moon was only half full, and the yard was dappled with shadows from the trees. At first, she didn't see anything out of place, but just as she was about to move away from the window, she saw one of the shadows move.

  Downstairs, Keeva began barking with a new ferocity. Moira realized that she was breathing rapidly, and forced herself to take slow, deep breaths instead. The last thing that she needed right now was to hyperventilate.

  If only there was a way that she could see in the dark… “The security camera,” she breathed. It had a grainy night vision that would be better than nothing.

  She felt around on the nightstands, hoping that David had left his computer there, and was rewarded when she felt the sleek, rectangular form next to his side of the bed. Sitting down on the bed, she opened the laptop and logged in, then navigated to the program that let her see through the security cameras. She was glad that he had taught her how to do all of that. She was hopeless with technology on her own, and never would have bothered to learn without him.

  After what seemed like ages, she was at last rewarded with a black and white image on the screen. The resolution was low, and the Internet connection in the bedroom was spotty at best so the image kept jumping, but she examined it carefully and at last, saw something that raised goosebumps on her skin.

  Standing near one of the trees next to the driveway was a person. The image was too low resolution for Moira to make out anything besides the fact that the person was wearing a sweatshirt with the hood drawn up over his or her face. Since the image was black and white, she couldn't even tell what color of clothes they were wearing, but there is no doubt that whoever it was was watching the house.

  Chapter Eleven

  * * *

  Moira was frozen in place. Her cell phone was still downstairs in the living room, and she was sure if she returned to the first story, where all of the lights were on, whoever was watching the house would see her shadow against the curtains, and for some reason, she really didn't want this person to know where she was.

  For the first time, she was glad that Candice had gone out that evening. She had no doubt that whoever this was, it was the same person who had vandalized the front of the candy shop, and possibly the same person who had killed Bryan.

  Why? she thought. Why would anyone do this to us?

  She continued to watch the screen. Keeva was still barking downstairs, and the person outside seemed wary about coming any closer. As she watched, the person shifted back and forth, as if undecided about what to do.

  Suddenly, the screen was flooded with light. Moira blinked, then looked up at the window, which was also glowing. She jumped up and pulled back the curtains to see a car coming up the driveway. Her knees went weak with relief. That must be Martha and Denise, she thought.

  She hurried downstairs and flicked on the porch light, watching anxiously out the window as the car parked. She worried for a second that the person who had been hanging around her property might attack her friends, so, deciding to be brave, she grabbed Maverick’s leash and clipped it to his collar, then opened the front door and stepped onto the porch with the dog at her side. She had no doubt that Maverick would protect her if he needed to.

  She heard a car door slam and raised a hand to wave at her friends. They made it safely to the porch, and Maverick’s barks turned into whines of excitement as he recognized them. She breathed a sigh of relief as they all went inside.

  “Are you okay?” Martha asked. “You look as white as a sheet.”

  “Follow me upstairs,” Moira said. She wanted to explain to her friends what had happened but needed to see if the person was still there, first. She hurried up to the bedroom where she had left the laptop open on the bed and gazed at the footage from the security camera. The person was gone. She didn't know whether that was a good thing or a bad thing. For all she knew, they had simply melted into the woods and were still watching the house, but at least they weren't as close anymore.

  “Moira, what's going on?” Martha asked, beginning to sound worried.

  “There was someone out there,” the deli owner said. “Did you see anyone while you were driving up the driveway?”

  Her friends exchanged a look. “No, we didn't,” Martha said. “Moira, is everything okay?”

  The deli owner took a deep breath. “Let's go back downstairs. A lot has happened. It's time that I tell you about it.”

  Half an hour later, the three of them were sitting with mugs of hot coffee in the living room, each of them wearing nervous looks on their faces.

  “So, you think this person is stalking you?” Martha asked.

  “I think they are probably after Candice, which is worse,” the deli owner said. “And I don't have any proof, but my gut tells me that is the same person who killed that construction worker.”

  “You should call the police,” Denise offered, meeting Moira’s eyes, then looking away again.

  “I know. I was going to, but I had left my phone downstairs and I was too frightened to go and get it. Then the two of you got here. I'll call Detective Jefferson now.”

  “We'll keep an eye on the security footage, if you want,” Martha offered. “Just in case they come back.”

  “Thanks,” Moira said. “I'll go get the laptop.”

  It wasn't long before she saw the comforting sight of red and blue lights in her yard. She locked the dogs in the mudroom and went outside to talk to Detective Jefferson, who looked tired.

  “The person was recorded by my security camera,” she told him. “The footage saves automatically, so you should be able to get it without any issue.”

  “We'll take a look at it,” the detective promised her. “I'm more worried about you, right now. We will have an officer sitting at the foot of your driveway tonight, so all you have to do if something else happens is call or scream very loudly. Have you told David about this yet?”

  “No,” Moira told him. “He's working a case with Lenny, his partner. I'll call him soon, though.”

  “All right. I'll go in and get that footage, then I'll be out of here. I'm going to drive around for a while to see if I can find anyone who looks out of place. Keep your phone on you, and don't hesitate to call if you hear or see something unusual.”

  “I won't,” she promised.

  “Your friends will be staying with you until David gets back, right?”

  “Yes,” she told him. “They will be.”

  It was late by the time Detective Jefferson had gone. Moira was comforted to know that there was a uniformed officer parked at the end of her driveway, and even more comforted by the fact that she wasn'
t alone in her house anymore.

  “So, what do you want to do now?” Martha asked, in a forced cheerful voice. “We could watch something on the television. Do you have anything to make brownies? I've been craving something chocolate.”

  “I think we should talk,” Denise said. “I'm sorry, Moira.”

  Moira looked down at her hands, which were clasped anxiously together. “It's okay,” she said. “I… I understand why you did what you did. And thank you, for coming here tonight.”

  “Of course. It's what friends do.”

  Moira looked up and gave her friend a small smile, and Denise returned it. Just like that, the deli owner knew that everything would be okay.