Chocolate Chip Cookie Conundrum (Murder in the Mix Book 32) by Unknown (the lemonade war series .TXT) 📕

college who accidentally”—I cup my hands around Lyla Nell’s little ears—“killed himself.”

“What?” Lottie pulls me to the side. “Who was he?”

“His name was Ben Jenson. You probably would have discovered this on your own. I was able to stumble upon it after a simple internet search. He was the drummer in a rock band. He was taking a few classes at Ashford University, and that’s where they met. Apparently, he fell off a three-story frat house rooftop one night at a party. He had enough amphetamines in his system for it to have been an accident. Friends and family say he wasn’t a jumper. Had everything going for himself. All he needed to do was clean up his act a little.”

“Wow.” She gives a few blinks. “You know Fern is here tonight. She and Candace went to college together. I bet she knew Ben. I think I’ll bring that up when I question her.”

I’d correct her and let her know I was about to do the questioning, but I think we both know I’d be wrong.

“And I’d like to be there with you if you don’t mind.”

Her lips curl into her cheeks as she inches back. “Noah, you’re the lead investigator. She might clam up in fear you’ll pin every murder in the last one hundred years on her. You’re an intimidating presence in the event you didn’t realize it.”

“Fine, I’ll hang back, but I won’t take my eyes off you.”

“Sounds good. Why don’t you show Lyla Nell around? I’m going to sneak off and use the restroom alone for once and maybe take a short nap sitting on the toilet. Oh, and don’t forget to indulge in all the chocolate chip cookies you want. You know if I would have had the time to make these myself I would have thought of you while I did it, just like the old days.” She gives my cheek a little pinch as she takes off.

“I won’t lie,” I whisper to the sweet babe looking up at me with wonder. “I miss the old days. But guess what? You make the new days way better. Are you up for a page-turning mystery or two? Let’s check this place out.” I turn around, only to find Everett standing there looking like a brick wall who isn’t about to move out of my way for anything.

“I’ve got a job for you.” He nods toward the lobby, and I follow him out that way.

“What’s up?” I ask as we step out from the noise and the chaos of the crowd where the air is cooler and my ears can relax.

Lyla Nell bounces with excitement once she spots him. It’s safe to say she’s excited to see him, just as excited as she was to see me. We’re already confusing her as to who her father is, and I worry about what that might do to her. She should know definitively who that special man is in her life. I want that for her, no matter what the outcome. But I’d bet every dollar I don’t have that all the genetic arrows will point back to me.

“Hey there.” Everett fishes her out and raises her in the air until a tiny husky giggle emits from her.

“She just laughed,” I marvel and something in my chest loosens. “That was the most beautiful sound I’ve heard,” I say, brushing her cheek with my finger. An audible gulp comes from me because if there’s one person who can bring me to my knees emotionally, it’s this sweet girl. “I don’t want to miss a thing, Everett.”

“You won’t.” He doesn’t look all that thrilled by the prospect either. “And that’s what I wanted to talk to you about.” He cinches a smile that disappears just as quickly as it came. “I need you to do me a favor.”

“Anything. Does this have something to do with the Morettis? You’ve got them blanketing Honey Hollow, and word on the street is, both the Canellis and the Lazzaris are running scared. They think a big hit is coming.”

“It might be. I can’t control a darn thing.”

“What’s the favor?”

Everett glances over my shoulder a moment. “I need you to find out where Manny Moretti is hanging out. Where he’s laying his head at night.”

“Why?” I give a wry look. “Are you putting a hit out on the guy you’re paying to protect you? That’s too many layers of deceit for me to unearth. What’s going on? Speak plainly.”

“Nothing is going on. I just need to know where Manny has been hanging out. He’s keeping tabs on me, and I’m about to do the same. Got it?”

“But it doesn’t make any—”

“It doesn’t need to make any sense. You asked if you could help, and I’m telling you exactly how you can do that.” He glares over at the conservatory as if Manny were in it. “I appreciate this. Get on with it, Noah. The sooner the better.”

He takes off into the conservatory with the baby and leaves me holding the bag. A metaphor for a lot of things in my life as of late.

I head back in myself. It’s time to watch Lottie do her thing, and hopefully this night yields some answers for us both.

As for Everett, he’s still a big walking, talking question mark. And it makes me wonder what he’s up to.

Lottie

The Honey Hollow Bed and Breakfast is a mere shell of what it once was—a hot pink, airheaded, tarred and feathered version to be exact.

It’s not even called the Honey Hollow Bed and Breakfast anymore. It’s been redesignated as the Rendezvous Luxury Resort and Razzle Dazzle Day Spa, a horrific new name to go along with the horrific new interior and the horrific new owners.

I’m about to head back into the conservatory when I spot an entire gaggle of happy ghouls, the very ghosts that take up residence here, along with Cluck Norris who seems to be a hit in their small circle of specters.

The aforementioned circle of specters