Murder By Lime: A Key West Culinary Cozy - Book 4 by Summer Prescott Read Free Book Online Page B

in sight of the spot where Drew had taken her diving, and, drawing closer, they spotted another boat already anchored there, with a diver who was scrambling up the ladder, pushing an awkward bundle of something up ahead of him. Even from a distance, Tiara recognized the yoga instructor in his wetsuit.
    “That’s him,” she yelled, above the sound of the engine.
    Drew had obviously seen the approaching Coast Guard vessel. He tore off his dive equipment, pulled up the anchor, and hit the throttle, his small craft surging forward. The Coast Guard boat closed in on him quickly, and a crew member used a bull horn to direct him to stop the boat and prepare to be boarded.
    At the directive, Drew gunned the engine of the small boat and leaped ahead of the Coast Guard vessel. Whatever was in the bundle that he’d brought up out of the ocean was tossed overboard, disappearing in his wake.
    “Mark it,” the crew member who was piloting ordered, and the coordinates where the bundle had been dropped were transmitted to another boat that would come out with divers to search for whatever had been discarded.
    The Coast Guard was bearing down hard on the smaller boat when suddenly, there was a loud pop and smoke began billowing out of the engine room. Crew members grabbed fire extinguishers and ran as Tiara looked up at Detective Cortland, her eyes wide with fear.
    **
    “So they didn’t catch him?” Marilyn asked, when Tiara told her the harrowing tale of her terrifying boat ride. The Coast Guard vessel had been so badly in need of repair that another boat had to come out to tow it in. Meanwhile, Drew had escaped.
    “No,” Tiara shook her head. “But they did recover quite a bit of cocaine that he had tossed overboard.”
    “I wonder where he went,” Marilyn worried, thinking that her daughter might be in danger with a drug dealer and murderer on the loose.
    “Well, he couldn’t have gone too far with a boat that size, even if he was carrying extra fuel,” her daughter replied realistically. “I’m not a criminal, but I think if I were him, I’d want to get as far away from the scene of the crime as possible…so you can stop worrying about me now, Mom,” she said, patting her mother’s arm.
    “You know me too well,” Marilyn smiled at her daughter, thankful that the ugly charges against her had been dropped.
    “Well enough to know that you’re probably seriously craving a piece of Key Lime pie and a cup of coffee right now,” Tiara teased.
    “Right as usual,” her stomach growled as though on cue, and mother and daughter headed to the kitchen.
     

Chapter 14
    Having a normal work day, where her biggest concern was whether or not she was going to run out of pie before the end of the day, was a huge relief to Marilyn. She and Kelcie had baked with glorious abandon, even coming up with a new treat – Key Lime Shooters, served in a white chocolate cup. The bite-sized desserts flew out the door by the dozen, and people came in just because they’d seen the description of the decadent treat written on the Daily Specials chalkboard out front.
    Tiara had spent most of her day on the computer at the front counter, when there weren’t customers to deal with, crunching numbers and seeing how badly the lime shortage and the drama caused by Drew the Drug Dealer had affected their bottom line. She was pleased to report that, despite the challenges they had faced, their numbers hadn’t fallen significantly at all, and they were well on their way to being able to hire more employees and potentially open up a new location within the next year.
    Marilyn had given her daughter a bear hug when she shared the good news about the shop’s success, and made plans to celebrate with pizza and a movie later that evening. Tiara came back to the kitchen, phone in hand, with a strange look on her face toward the end of the day.
    “Hey, Mom, do you mind if I take off a little bit early today? I’m really tired and want to get some rest