Buttercream Murder: A Frosted Love Cozy Mystery - Book 7 (Frosted Love Cozy Mysteries) by Carol Durand, Summer Prescott Read Free Book Online Page B

background was lime green and it had blue circles on it…”
    “With little white flowers,” Missy interrupted, finishing his sentence with a terrified look on her face.
    “Echo’s?” he asked grimly.
    Missy nodded, her breathing increasing its pace.
    “I suspected as much when we found wavy red hairs on it. There were other things that we found as well. One was a note, the other was a small pool of blood,” he admitted, not wanting to scare Missy, but feeling the need to prepare her for what might be bad news on down the line.
    “What did the note say?” she whispered, deeply saddened.
    “It said, ‘Miss me?’” he replied, taking her hand.
    She looked up at him, her kitten-grey eyes large and sad. “What does it all mean, Chas?”
    The detective sighed, frustrated. “I’m afraid we still don’t know, sweetie, and there’s more…”
    “More? Oh gosh, what?” Missy whimpered, miserable.
    “When Detective Keller got the warrant and broke down the door at Echo’s house, it looked as though there had been a struggle, and there was a dot of blood on the floor in her living room.”
    “So they don’t have any idea where she is?”
    “Unfortunately, no. I’m sorry Missy, I wish I had better news,” he kissed her hand.
    “It’s not as bad as it could be,” she murmured, staring into the distance. “At least there’s one thing that gives me hope,” she said cryptically.
    “Really? What’s that?” Chas frowned.
    “Dead people don’t bleed.”
    Chas had instructed his team to clean up the blood and lock up Missy’s house once they were done with their investigation, but he insisted that she stay with him overnight, knowing full well that she was in no condition to return to an empty house. He grilled her about the phone calls that she had received, and instructed her to wake him if any more calls came in during the night. Fluffing the pillows in the guest room and moving Toffee’s spare bed into the corner, Beckett made his visitors as comfortable as possible before retiring to his room. He left the light in the hallway on so that Missy could find him if she awoke scared in the night, kissed her soundly, not wanting to let go, and tucked her in.

Chapter 11
     
    Missy awoke disoriented, not knowing where she was at first, until she heard Chas’s stereo playing in the kitchen while he made breakfast. Sunlight streamed beautifully in the guest room windows, and Toffee stood and stretched when she heard her best friend stirring. Missy patted the side of the bed and the lovable golden girl trotted over for morning cuddles. The dog moved aside when her owner swung her legs off of the bed, yawned and stretched, heading for the kitchen, where the delightful smell of bacon had her stomach growling despite the unfortunate circumstances in which she currently found herself.
    “Good morning, Beautiful! Sleep well?” Chas inquired, turning from the stove, spatula in hand, looking impossibly gorgeous in flannel pajama bottoms and his college sweatshirt with the sleeves cut off.
    “Surprisingly well actually,” she returned his smile, entirely unaware of just how adorable she looked in his gym shorts and oversized tee shirt. “It smells amazing in here,” she came up behind the handsome detective, wrapping her arms around his waist.
    “I’m glad you think so,” he grinned, turning around to kiss her quickly before getting back to the delicate operation of turning bacon. “The coffee is fresh and you know where the mugs are.”
    Coffee had never tasted so good as it did, standing there in Chas Beckett’s kitchen feeling safe for the moment, appreciating the strong, dependable man who had prepared it. Missy wished that she could just stay in this moment for a while, not facing the ugliness that awaited outside.
    “Penny for your thoughts,” Chas teased, catching her staring out the window.
    “Honey, my thoughts are so topsy-turvy at the moment, they’re not worth even a penny,” she smiled