Chewy Chocolate Chip Murder: A Cookie Lane Cozy Mystery - Book 1 by Karen Sullivan Page A

this the wrong way, but it kinda seems
like you’re obsessed. And that obsession isn’t healthy. Maybe it’s your way of
dealing with what happened to Beth, or maybe the pressure of the bakery has
gotten to you, but –”
    “No, Lace, I’m fine. I just want to
get to the bottom of this.”
    “I didn’t expect to be sitting outside
a family’s house on a Sunday night, searching for a killer,” Lacy said. “That’s
all. Call me crazy, but this has escalated pretty quickly. It’s extreme.”
    Cat nodded. She’d give her that. “I’m
extreme, Lace. You’ve known that since you started working with me. I think a
part of you is extreme too.”
    “Which part? The anxiety-ridden one or
the serving cookies one?”
    “No, the ‘bashing the coffee machine
because it won’t work’ part. Once you get past the anxiety and stuff, you’ll be
just as crazy as I am. Heaven forbid,” Catherine said.
    But Lacy’s words echoed in her mind.
Was she right? She had snuck into a stranger’s house, eavesdropped on
conversations and been interrogated in the last week.
    Beth’s death had sent her into a
spiral of some kind.
    “Who’s that?” Lacy asked, and squeaked
forward in her seat.
    A lone figure emerged from the
massive, white front door.
    Catherine leaned forward in her seat
and squinted. “That’s either Kevin Walters or Joseph, his father.”
    “What’s he doing?” Lacy asked.
    “Now, who’s got the investigating
bug?” Cat said, and grinned.
    The Walters man traipsed down the
front stairs, then hurried to an Audi convertible parked in the driveway. The
lights flashed once, and he disappeared into the leather interior.
    “Oh boy, something’s happening, isn’t
it?” Lacy asked, and grabbed her paper bag.
    The car started, and Walters reversed
out of the drive. He didn’t indicate, but turned sharply, then sped off down
the road.
    “Follow that car!” Lacy yelled.
    “That’s the spirit.” Catherine started
the engine, then roared after the Audi. Her Kia couldn’t keep up, but a series
of lucky turns – led by intuition – took them to the…
    “Pier,” Lacy gasped, into the paper
bag. She lowered it and scrunched it up. “A Walters at the pier. What is going
on?”
    Cat turned off the lights and sank low
in her seat. She couldn’t call Detective Bradshaw about this – he’d laugh in
her ear. People could go where they wanted, no matter the time of night.
    “Keep your eyes open,” Catherine
whispered, then rolled down her window.
    Muffled conversations drifted toward
them. The crash of waves drowned out the words, but two men stood on the end of
the pier.
    “It’s done,” a man shouted. “What do
you want from me?”
    Walters answered, something
indistinct, then turned and strode back down the pier.
    “He’s coming back,” Lace said.
    “Duck!”
    The women sank lower and ducked toward
the gear stick. They knocked heads, and groaned, but didn’t sit up.
    The Audi started up a second later,
then roared off down the road. Catherine counted to five, then sat up. “They’re
gone,” she said. “Both of them are gone.”
    “Okay,” Lacy said, “I believe you,
now. The Walters family are definitely up to something.”
    “And I intend on finding out exactly
what that is,” Cat replied. “But first, I gotta get home and feed Oreo. He’s
already super irritated I didn’t do my dance lesson this weekend.”
    “Yeah, and there’s work tomorrow,”
Lacy said, then yawned. “I couldn’t be more tired.”
    “I’ll take you home,” Cat said. “And
Lace, thanks for coming with me on this one. I know it’s strange for you.”
    Lacy’s eyes glinted by the light of
the gibbous moon, which hovered above the waves. “I don’t know. I think it was
kinda fun.”

Chapter 15
    Lacy stood in front of the coffee
machine, her hands on her hips. “You,” she said, “Are my Everest.”
    The line of customers in Cat’s Cookies
stretched to the front door, again. People filled the