Chapter 5
“What?” Skylar looked totally appalled at my suggestion that Chance was the killer, but I ignored her.
Easton looked thoughtful, “Yeah, Chance Fox? I don't know. We never figured out who might have done the hit for him if he did it. He definitely couldn't have murdered her himself. He wasn't here. He had no way to personally poison that cupcake.”
I watched as Chance continued to jeer at Tyler, “You're getting what you deserve!”
“Get over yourself!” Tyler retorted as the officer taking him away roughly pushed him forward.
Chance smiled. He'd just wanted a reaction from Tyler. Oh yeah, he knew how to press people's buttons and manipulate those in authority. I really hoped Penelope had been the one to dump him.
Whoa. A light bulb went off in my brain. I knew why I really didn't like Chance. He reminded me of a guy I'd liked freshman year of high school. Wow. That was a weird blast from the past. I hadn't thought about Daniel Harper in ages. I looked over at Chance again. Yeah, Chance even looked like Daniel a little bit. They definitely had the same nose. Regardless, it was his persona that really struck a cord with me.
I'd had a crush on Daniel Harper when I was fourteen. He was popular and I was somewhere in the middle of the high school food chain. He ended up using me to make Piper Paisley jealous. I found out and it completely crushed me. I'd been in love with him before he made it a point to notice me. Then, when I found out it wasn't real... Yeah. It was my first heartbreak. Chance Fox was just like him. I could tell. They had the same presence. Okay, maybe a part of me wanted the murderer to be Chance just to get back at all of the Daniels in the world who thought that they could use people to get what they wanted. Then again, wouldn't that same persona be the exact type of person to murder someone who wasn't doing what he wanted her to do? Maybe Penelope was going to expose Chance in some way. Chance would so not like that. The problem was: how would I even go about finding that out?
I felt a tap on my shoulder, startling me. I turned around to face a guy in his twenties with shaggy hair and a camera around his neck. Easton turned too. Skylar was absorbed in staring at Chance Fox.
“You work here, right?” The shaggy haired cameraman asked us. “Who's that guy?”
He gestured toward the other employees, who were still sitting in a group at the end of the patio. I frowned at him, feeling suspicious. He must be one of the paparazzi, that the police had corralled as a witness to Penelope's suspicious collapse. Was he going to give out our names to some news outlet? I didn't want to be hounded just because I'd witnessed Penelope Rose's murder.
“Why?” I asked.
The guy looked annoyed for a moment, but quickly tried to hide it, “Because I think I recognize him.”
“What?” Now I was curious. Why would he recognize one of our employees? I followed his gaze. “Which one?”
“The guy right there?” He pointed at the hipster.
“His name is Nolan,” I looked at Easton. “Do you know his last name?”
“No idea,” Easton said.
“Nolan, Nolan, Nolan,” The photographer said to himself.
I looked at the photographer. “Where do you recognize him from?”
He was definitely annoyed with me now for interrupting his thought process. I swear he almost did an eye roll, “I'm trying to figure that out.”
I glanced at Easton. Should I tell him more about Nolan? What if there was a connection to the murder? “Well, I heard he was an actor, but I don't think he's that successful that you would have taken a picture of him...”
“No. He's not a celebrity, but he really looks familiar,” The photographer frowned still trying to place where he knew Nolan.
“Maybe he looks like someone you know personally?” I offered.
“You don't have a last name, do you?” He asked, pulling up his cell phone and typing in Nolan's first name.
I shook my head.
“Well, can you find it out?” He asked.
“It's Hill. Nolan Hill,” Skylar said, jumping back into our business.
I glared at her. This time she ignored me. The photographer frowned. Then he pulled out his cell phone. I saw him pull up the internet and search for Nolan Hill. Nothing came up.
“Darn it,” He muttered under his breath. “I thought I had something.”
Easton and I looked at each other and moved away. We left him there muttering to himself. Skylar took the opportunity to talk to him further. She probably wanted to get her name in the tabloids. Personally, I wanted to get as far away from him as I could. I didn't need my name tied with a murder.
I wondered if we should warn Nolan that one of the paparazzi was internet stalking him and that he might end up on TMZ. I thought about this. Did Nolan actually have something to hide?
For the heck of it, I pulled out my own phone and searched for Nolan Hill. There were a few guys with the same name. I went through the first few pages of search results, but none of them were the Nolan that worked with us.
“Did you find him?” Easton asked, leaning over my phone.
“No. I didn't have any luck looking him up either,” I said, still thinking.
I erased my initial search and then simply typed in Nolan and Penelope Rose. My brain froze at the results. I read the first headline four times before my mind realized what I was reading: Penelope Rose and her college sweetheart, Nolan Wilson.
I clicked on the link. I zoomed in on the picture. Penelope was walking out of a trendy Hollywood restaurant with a man. He was clean shaven with bleach blonde hair and looked like a surfer. Our Nolan looked completely different. I zoomed in on the photo and looked closely at his face, particularly his mouth, eyes, and cheekbones. I tried to picture dark hair, a beard, and glasses.
I heard Easton's breath catch. I think I about stopped breathing, myself. It was definitely him. Nolan had dated Penelope.
Then the questions came flooding in. Why would he do it? How could he have known Penelope would help Nina by doing a personal appearance at the grand opening? Why hadn't Penelope or Nina recognized him even if he looked different?
“We need to tell the police,” I said automatically.
Easton nodded. We both walked over to the nearest police officer, the same one who had been neglecting his duties earlier when he let us slip by. He was watching the crowd.
“We need to talk to you,” Easton said.
The officer turned to us. “You kids need to wait over there. They'll bring you inside in a few minutes. We're going as quickly as we can.”
I frowned. We weren't kids, but suddenly I felt like one anyway. Maybe we should try someone else, but who? The rest of the police were actually investigating, not babysitting.
“We actually have a lead in your case,” Easton continued.
I thought the officer was going to roll his eyes, but somehow he managed not to. “Okay. Like I said, we're going to talk to all of you. It's procedure. Go wait over there.”
“But—” Easton started.
“I'm not going to ask again,” The police officer said firmly.
Easton nodded. Then we both turned away from the police officer. Neither of us said anything for a moment.
“Should we try someone else?” I asked.
“I think it's too late for that,” Easton said.
“What?” I asked and then followed his gaze.
Nolan, like Charlotte, had hopped the small fence around the patio when we'd stopped to talk to the policeman watching us. Now, he was walking toward Chance. Nobody was paying attention to him. Was he going to kill Chance in front of everyone? There was no other reason for him to talk to Chance. Goosebumps broke out over my arms as horror washed over me. I was about to witness a second murder. We would never get to him in time. Even if I didn’t like Chance, I didn’t want him dead. And Charlotte...
For once, I didn't think or worry about looking weird or being the center of attention. I automatically ran forward, hopping the fence like the others m
ust have done. Easton did the same. I had to try and stop it from happening.
“Hey!” I heard the policeman who had been babysitting us yell.
I ignored him and focused on the scenario unfolding in front of me. Nolan walked up to Chance and handed him something. What was it? It looked like a bottle of water. Chance said something. Nolan nodded and walked away. Easton slowed down. I did too. Maybe we were wrong. Maybe...
Wait. Chance handed the water to Charlotte. I ran for her, not waiting for Easton. The water had been poisoned. I was sure of it!
Charlotte started to put the bottle up to her lips. I was almost there. She was about to drink from it. I grabbed it out of her hands. Some of the liquid splashed onto my hand. I sure hoped whatever poison was in it didn't kill you by passing through your skin.
“What the heck? Ava, what are you doing?” Charlotte was incredulous.
“Saving your life,” I said, still looking at the hand I'd spilled the water on. It looked normal enough. Should I talk to one of the paramedics?
From behind me I heard a thud. I spun around. The photographers started snapping more photos.
“Seriously? What now?” I heard one of the policemen say as they all reacted to the situation.
I turned just in time to see Easton struggling on the ground with Nolan.
“Fight! Fight! Fight!” Cole chanted again.
I wasn’t sure why Cole was so into it. Truthfully, neither of the two guys seemed like very good fighters. Easton was trying to wrestle Nolan to the ground and keep him there. Nolan was trying to get Easton off of him. It only lasted a second because the police surrounded them and then pulled them apart.
I moved forward to try and explain. I didn’t want them to arrest the wrong man or even worse, let Nolan go. Nolan was sure to flee to Canada, Mexico, or some other untouchable place as soon as Easton let him go if he wasn’t arrested. A policeman stopped me. Again. I tried not to throw the poisoned water I was still holding at him. I was seriously getting angry. I had something important to say.
“Miss, you need to stand right there,” He said.
I didn’t let him stop me. This was too important, “But you don't understand. That guy, the hipster one, Nolan, he's the one that killed Penelope Rose.”
The policeman frowned at me.
I held out my phone to him, showing him the picture of Nolan with Penelope, “And I think he might have been about to try and kill Chance Fox.”
Epilogue
A billion hours later and I was finally cleared to go home. I ached everywhere like I had spent the day working. Being a witness to a murder was exhausting and stressful, yet it was all I could think about. I had no idea what occurred after Easton tackled Nolan. I prayed that he hadn’t been arrested. He’d been trying to stop Penelope’s killer from fleeing. He’d done the cops a favor. Still, I couldn’t be sure what happened to him. I was separated from them and questioned by the police. I'd finally gotten dismissed after telling them what I knew about a zillion different times.
I walked into the back of the bakery to grab my purse. I heard someone walk up behind me and immediately turned to look. I didn't need any more surprises today.
“Hey, Ava,” Easton said, smiling.
The police hadn’t arrested him! Yay! I stopped myself from hugging him. That might be a little too strange.
The only problem was that now my heart was beating a mile a minute and I could barely think, “Oh, hey.”
I tried to sound like I wasn't suddenly nervous to be alone with Easton. It was just the first time we'd been alone all day. Even though we'd spent several hours solving a murder together, it suddenly felt a little weird.
Was it just me or was there something there? Maybe my crush was requited? Yeah. There was no way I was going to ask. He'd have to make that move. I was most definitely shy in that respect.
Easton grinned at me, “It was fun playing whodunit with you.”
“Ditto,” I said, cringing on the inside. Ditto? Ditto? Why'd I say that word?
“We make a good team,” Easton continued, not noticing my word choice.
I nodded. I was waiting. Was he going to ask me out? It sure felt like he might! I fumbled with my purse like I was looking for my car keys. I'd already put them in my pocket, but I was trying to stall just in case Easton had something more he wanted to say to me. He was standing sort of close to me, only about a foot away. That had to mean something, right?
“They arrested Nolan,” Easton said instead of asking me out. “And they took Tyler in too, even though they all know that Chance started the fight.”
“So, they believed us that Nolan did it?” I asked, trying to squelch my disappointment at the topic. I did actually want to know what happened to Nolan, and the policeman questioning me hadn't been very forthcoming.
“Yeah, they do. I overheard them talking and I saw them carry away your water for evidence. I think it's safe to assume the cupcake and the water were both poisoned, don't you?”
“Oh. Definitely. There was no way he'd go over to Chance except to kill him. Right? I mean, he did it because he was still in love with Penelope and she dumped him or something?” That was my guess as far as motive at least.
“I actually asked him,” Easton said.
“You what?”
“I asked him why he did it,” Easton repeated. “When I had him on the ground.”
I would never have had the guts to do that, but now I had to know. “And?”
“And he wouldn't say anything,” Easton frowned. “He was too busy trying to shove me away.”
“Oh,” I was disappointed.
“But,” Easton continued. “After the police finished talking to me, my aunt told me who he actually was and it’s obvious why he did it.”
“Who was he?” I asked.
“Well, we already knew they dated, but remember the guy my aunt mentioned? The boyfriend who was always smoking weed with Penelope freshman year of college? That was him,” Easton said.
I thought about this and voiced the questions I'd considered earlier, “But then why didn't Nina recognize him? Why didn't Penelope?”
“I'm not sure about Penelope, but my aunt said that he looked and acted so different that she didn't put it together. It had been about ten years. She didn't really remember what he looked like. She did know what happened between him and Penelope though,” Easton said.
“What?” I asked.
“They dated that year in college and then they both moved to Hollywood. They lived together for ages. Nina was still in school and didn’t see much of them at that point, but she and Penelope kept in touch. Then Penelope got her first big break. It was a lead role in a small indie movie, but it was the first major role she'd ever gotten. It put her on the map. He was jealous. They tried to work things out for a while, but then Penelope broke things off with him. He started trying to control her. That was the end for Penelope. He was not going to tell her what to do, especially when it came to her career,” Easton said.
“I'm guessing Nolan didn't take it well.”
“Not at all,” Easton said. “She had to get a restraining order. He wouldn't leave her alone. When she landed Whodunit he finally disappeared. She thought it was finally over.”
Poor Penelope. It hadn’t been over at all for Nolan. I had one more question, “But how did Nolan know that Nina would ask Penelope to help with her grand opening?”
“I asked my Aunt Nina that too. She thinks that a mutual friend told him. That's her theory. A few people besides the two of them and Tyler knew well in advance that Penelope would be here today," Easton said. “And half the staff, including Nolan, was just hired in the last two weeks. He must have been waiting for the opportunity to get close to Penelope again.”
“Wow. I wonder if he thought he'd get away with it,” I said.
Easton shrugged. “Probably. If that reporter hadn't recognized him from that ancient photo, he might have.”
“But he shouldn't have tried to poison C
hance then,” I said.
“Maybe he couldn't resist,” Easton theorized. “The celebrity gossip made them sound like a golden couple. It probably made him crazier, seeing him only a few feet away.”
“Maybe,” I said.
I was amazed at how twisted love could become. How could you murder someone you had declared you loved? Scary. Poor, poor Penelope. I was glad her killer was caught. At least she’d have justice.
Easton was still looking at me. I looked up at him. I suddenly noticed how near he was to me. Had he moved closer? I tried to judge the distance, but I was having a hard time not looking up at his face. His lips were right there! I met his eyes again. Wow, that scar on his eyebrow was sexy. Ah! Why was neither of us talking?
I had to say something, anything. “Uh, random question, how’d you get the scar on your eyebrow?”
Easton chuckled. “That is random and it’s not that exciting of a story.”
“So, what is it?” I asked.
“Guess,” Easton said.
“Guess?” I repeated automatically.
“Well, yeah. How do you think I got it?” Easton asked.
I had no idea, but I had to say something. “Were you in a fight?”
Easton shook his head, “No.”
I tried again. “Car accident?”
Easton smiled. “No again.”
“Can’t you just tell me?” I asked.
“Nope,” Easton was grinning like he was about to start laughing at me.
“Why not?”
“Because you’ve probably already got a big head about figuring out Nolan was Penelope’s killer,” Easton said.
I raised my eyebrows at him. “Seriously? The reporter figured it out. I just pieced the last puzzle piece together.”
“Well, Miss Modesty, keep guessing. I’m sure you’ll figure it out eventually,” Easton said.
“Oh, come on,” I was out of ideas.
“Well, then it’ll give us something to talk about the next time we work together,” Easton said.
My stomach flipped.
Easton broke into my thoughts just as they were about to get good, “Anyway, mind if I grab my stuff?”
“Huh?” I blinked up at him.
“My bag's right behind you,” Easton smiled.
“Oh,” I moved over a foot, feeling my cheeks turn pink again.
I tried to think of some more scar guesses to get him to stay, but my mind was a total blank. Actually, it wasn’t completely empty. I kept fantasizing about a shirtless Easton as the barista, making coffee the next time we worked together. It was hot the way he poured the shots of espresso. Then Easton grabbed a satchel off the bookshelf behind me, bringing me back to reality.
All of the employees had left their things in one of the bookshelf's cubbyholes. I wondered if Nolan had left anything. Then again, maybe the police had already put it in evidence.
“See you later,” Easton said as he walked casually past me.
“Yeah, see you later. Bye!” I called after him.
Easton walked back out into the front of the store as I stared after him. I suddenly couldn't wait for my next shift. I was really going to like working at Killer Cupcakes...er, I mean Celebrity Cupcakes and Coffee.
Ava's Super Simple Cupcake Recipe
1. Buy box of cupcake mix.
2. Follow step by step instructions on the box.
3. Try not to burn the cupcakes in the oven because you've decided to write a screenplay while listening to music with your noise-canceling headphones on and can't hear the oven timer going off.
Note to self: I will most definitely need to tweak this recipe once I get a little more baking experience under my belt.
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Murderous Muffins (Celebrity Cupcakes Cozy Mystery #2) is out now!
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