Creamsicle Murder: A Frosted Love Cozy Mystery - Book 11 (Frosted Love Cozy Mysteries) by Carol Durand, Summer Prescott Read Free Book Online Page B

killed Ian because he thought that Ivana would come to him
once Ian was gone?” she was incredulous and furious at the senseless killing of
her friend.
    “Exactly,”
Echo squeezed her hand. “I’m so sorry, Missy.”
    “But
then, who stabbed Chas?” she said, eyes wide.
    “Buckman.
Think about it, with all the time that Ivana had been spending with Chas…” Echo
noticed Missy wince at that. “Sorry…but Buckman probably thought that she had
replaced Ian with Chas, so he wanted to eliminate him as well, and knew that
Ivana would continue to blame you, so he’d never get caught,” she explained.
“The police are probably finding out right about now that the fingerprints on
the knife and the gun don’t match yours because you didn’t handle either of
those items. Joe clued them in as to what the guard said, and they’re checking
up on the story.”
    “That,
plus what Sebastian told me about what Buckman did in the props room should
give them enough to go after Buckman,” Missy said, hope stirring within her at
last.
    “And
then we’re going to get you out of here and feed you copious amounts of Vanilla
Bean Ice Dream,” her friend promised, giving her hand a squeeze.
    **
    Missy
stood on the sidewalk in front of the jail, blinking in the sunlight as Echo
and Joe brought the car around to pick her up. She had been freed, finally
after spending two days in a holding cell while the police received new
information that exonerated her. While it was a relief to be free and have the
newspaper release a big article proclaiming her innocence, she was still
gripped by the tattered shreds of despair. Chas was alive, but had not regained
consciousness, and due to her altercation with Ivana in the Intensive Care
hallway, she had been barred from visiting. Staying away from the hospital was
probably a good idea anyway, if Officer Parsons was still standing watch. Missy
had a very special piece of her mind that she’d like to share with that nasty
man. She realized that he was just trying to protect Chas, but his treatment of
her was inexcusable.
    Joe
and Echo roared up to the curb in Joe’s sleek new sedan, because Echo didn’t
own a car, not wanting to increase her ecological footprint.
    “Get
in quickly,” the handsome reporter with jet black hair and chocolate eyes
commanded.
    Missy
obeyed without question, but once inside, demanded to know what was going on.
    “Buckman
disappeared,” Echo said, clearly upset.
    Missy
gave her a blank look, somewhat relieved that the evil man was gone.
    Her
friend shook her head, frustrated that Missy didn’t understand. “Sweetie, he
wants to pin the murder and attack on you. If he’s disappeared, you’re in
danger,” she explained.

Chapter 15
    Missy
timidly approached the door to the hospital room in which her beloved rested.
He had finally regained consciousness and had immediately demanded that she be
given access to him. She had encountered Officer Parsons in the hall, bestowing
a scathing look upon him, and he’d refused to meet her gaze, but now she stood
in the hall, heart pounding. She wanted to see that he was safe and breathing
and going to live, but she couldn’t bear the thought of hearing him say that he
no longer wanted to see her. It was a moment of truth, and she was terrified,
but realized that she should get it over with sooner rather than later. Taking
a deep breath, she entered the door.
    Chas
appeared to be dozing, his handsome face pale, but clearly alive, and relief
flooded through Missy at the sight of him. His eyes fluttered open, as though
he felt her presence, and he beckoned to her by holding out his hand, covered
in tape and pierced with an IV line. She walked slowly to his bedside, the
touch of his hand enclosing hers nearly causing her to dissolve into tears on
the spot.
    “Hey
you,” he said, his voice hoarse.
    “Hey,”
Missy replied, tears beginning to fall.
    “You
haven’t kissed me yet,” he observed, looking at her