Cookies with a Side of Danger Read online

  Cookies with a Side of Danger

  Meredith Potts

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Epilogue

  Chapter One

  “Is it just me, or is that guy staring at us?” I asked.

  So much for enjoying a peaceful morning coffee with my friends. Instead, things had gotten uncomfortable really fast. The question became, would things go even further downhill from there?

  Honestly, I wasn’t sure that I wanted to know the answer to that question. In my experience, when something could go wrong in Treasure Cove, it usually did. Granted, I would be ecstatic if that didn’t take place this time, but I certainly wasn’t going to hold my breath.

  Especially not when a random middle-aged man was standing on the sidewalk across the street staring at us for some unknown reason. I kept wondering, did he know us? I certainly didn’t recognize him.

  On the bright side, it didn’t seem like he intended to cross the street and enter the coffee shop to speak with us. Or that he had plans to confront us.

  He did continue to stare, however. Understandably, I was incredibly unsettled. After all, I had no clue what he wanted.

  My stomach began to turn as I glanced at him.

  While I became creeped out, my good friend, Shannon Marlowe, immediately turned her head to look out the front window of the coffee shop.

  “Shannon, don’t be so obvious,” I said.

  “Too late,” Shannon said.

  “All right. Well, what do you think?” I asked.

  “He isn’t staring at us. He’s staring at you,” Shannon said.

  I let out a groan and turned to my other friend, Kelly Hogan.

  “What’s your take?” I asked.

  Kelly casually glanced across the street. “Shannon’s right. For whatever reason, that man has you in his sights.”

  I grimaced. “That’s disturbing.”

  “I’ll say. Talk about creepy,” Shannon replied.

  “Sabrina, do you really have no idea who he is?” Kelly asked.

  I shook my head. “I don’t have a clue.”

  Shannon threw out an idea. “Maybe he’s a suspect from a previous case.”

  “That’s a terrifying possibility, but I have a great memory when it comes to old murder suspects. And I don’t recognize him at all,” I said. “How about you two? Do you have any idea who that is?”

  Kelly shook her head. “No. I do wish he would stop staring, though.”

  “I second that,” Shannon said. “He is seriously giving off some bad vibes.”

  I looked across the street again, this time making direct eye contact with him.

  Strangely enough, the moment he saw me staring back at him, he averted his eyes and looked down at the ground. The mysterious man then walked away. Once he was out of my view, I turned my attention back to Shannon and Kelly.

  “Talk about strange,” I said.

  “That’s putting it lightly,” Shannon replied.

  I bit the corner of my lip. “I wonder what he wanted.”

  “I’m not sure that you want to know the answer to that,” Shannon said.

  I exhaled. “You’re probably right.”

  “At least he’s gone now,” Shannon said.

  “Yeah,” Kelly said. “Let’s talk about more pleasant things.”

  “Forget about talking,” I said. “Right now, I need a pastry.”

  Chapter Two

  By the time I finished eating a muffin, I figured the mysterious man would be long gone. Before I decided to leave the comfort of the coffee shop, I ordered a second latte and took my time drinking it.

  When I did finally leave Daley Buzz thirty minutes later, I made sure not to let my guard down as I walked out to the parking lot.

  Living in Treasure Cove all these years had taught me that I could never be too careful. Much to my relief, I didn’t see anyone suspicious in the area. At least, not initially.

  As I reached my sedan and went to open the driver’s-side door, a queasy feeling came to my stomach. My instincts were telling me I was being watched.

  I reached into my purse and grabbed the can of pepper spray that I always kept on me. Right then, I wasn’t sure if I would need to use it. I would definitely keep it handy just in case.

  I immediately turned around and scanned the parking lot once more. Surprisingly, I didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. While that should have given me a huge sense of relief, I didn’t find that to be the case. Instead, the awful feeling in my gut lingered.

  At that moment, I began to question myself. What was going on? Was I just being paranoid over nothing? Or did I have a legitimate reason to be worried?

  Since my instincts were typically spot-on, I decided not to take any chances. I opened my car door, took a seat, and fired up the ignition. I wanted to get out of that parking lot as soon as possible.

  As I pulled out of my parking spot, I realized that my instincts had been correct all along. Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted something very peculiar. The mysterious man was seated in a silver pickup truck at the edge of the parking lot. And he was looking directly at me.

  A shiver went down my spine as I made eye contact with him. Our eyes only met briefly, however. The moment the man saw me staring back at him, he looked down at the floorboard of his vehicle.

  So much for paranoia. It turned out there was a very good reason that I felt so unsettled. I really was being watched. The question became, who was that mysterious man? And what did he want with me?

  I would think about that later. Right then, I just wanted to get far away from there.

  When I left the parking lot, I looked up at my rearview mirror. It was important to find out if the mysterious man planned on following me.

  As I made my way down Main Street, I got my answer. Ultimately, the man didn’t tail my car. When I turned right on Park Drive, I didn’t see any sign of the silver pickup truck anywhere.

  In my mind, it was about time that I got some good news. Even so, without knowing what the mysterious man was up to, I couldn’t exactly breathe a sigh of relief.

  Chapter Three

  Normally, when I left Daley Buzz in the morning, I headed straight home. This situation was far from ordinary. As a precautionary measure, I drove over to the police station to speak with my husband, Detective David Carlson.

  When I approached David’s desk, he was very surprised to see me. As a matter of fact, he did a double-take when he looked up from the paperwork that he was filling out.

  “What are you doing here?” David asked.

  “I need to talk to you about something,” I said.

 
; “Don’t get me wrong. It’s always great to see you. But why didn’t you call me?” he asked. “Unless, it’s the kind of thing that you can’t say over the phone.”

  “Actually, it is.”

  “Uh-oh. What happened?”

  “It has been a very strange morning. And I’m not quite sure what to make of it.”

  He squinted. “When you say strange, how odd are we talking?”

  I gave David a blow by blow rundown of everything that had taken place.

  When I finished talking, he took a deep breath before responding.

  “That’s troubling,” he said.

  I nodded. “It sure is. Especially since I don’t know who this man is or what he wants with me.”

  “It would be better if he just left you alone.”

  “Wouldn’t that be nice? But what do you think the odds are of that happening?”

  “Slim.”

  “I was going to say none.”

  “You’re probably right.” David grimaced. “Life sure finds new ways of turning your world upside down, doesn’t it?”

  “Isn’t that the truth?”

  “I’m sorry this is happening to you.”

  “Forget about feeling sorry for me,” I said. “I want to know what you think we should do about this.”

  “That depends,” he said.

  “On what?”

  “You really didn’t recognize the man?”

  I shook my head. “Nope. Although, Shannon brought up the possibility that it might have been a suspect from a previous case.”

  “If that’s true, don’t you think you would have recognized the guy? I mean, I’ve never forgotten the faces of the people that we have investigated in the past.”

  I held my hand up. “While I don’t think this man was a suspect from a previous case, there’s a possibility that he might be related to someone we have interviewed.”

  “If that’s the case, this man might have a serious ax to grind.”

  “Why do you think I came straight here instead of driving home?”

  David pulled out a pen and a pad of paper. “Can you at least describe him to me?”

  I searched my memory. “He was about five-eight. With short black hair. He looked to be in his sixties or seventies.”

  “Was he in good shape?”

  I shook my head. “No. He had a beer belly.”

  “How about his face?”

  “He had an oval face. And blue eyes.”

  “If I call the sketch artist over here, do you think you can work with him for a while?”

  “Of course.”

  David switched gears. “How about this man’s license plate? Did you happen to see what it was?”

  “In retrospect, I probably should have paid more attention. But I was just in such a hurry to get out of that parking lot.”

  “I understand.” David leaned back in his chair. “I’ll tell you what. When you’re done working with the sketch artist, I’m going to assign a patrol car to follow you around town.”

  “Good,” I said.

  “If this mysterious man shows up again, the deputy keeping tabs on you can spring into action.”

  “Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.”

  “I’m going to pray that you’re right,” he said. “But if you’re wrong, I want to be prepared.”

  Chapter Four

  After speaking with the sketch artist for a few minutes, he was able to produce a detailed drawing of the mysterious man. Once the artist was done working on the sketch, copies were made of the drawing. They were then circulated around the department.

  At that point, I said a quick good-bye to my husband before leaving the police station. From there, I headed home. I wasn’t alone, though. A patrol car followed me. If the mysterious man did come near me, the police deputy that was watching over me would step in.

  That said, I managed to arrive home without any incidents. Once I set foot inside my green Victorian-style home on Avocado Lane, I quickly made my way into the kitchen. And none too soon either. I was absolutely famished. Instead of making a meal from scratch, I decided to throw together a sandwich.

  Once my stomach was full, I had a little time to myself before I had to pick my daughter up from school. Normally, I relished that alone time. That particular afternoon, it seemed like more of a curse than a blessing. Despite my best efforts, I found myself thinking about the mysterious man again. Who he has. What he wanted. And if he would make a move soon.

  Before I knew it, an entire hour went by. If the alarm on my phone hadn’t have gone off, I probably would have spent more time lost in thought. As I turned off my alarm, I pulled my head out of the clouds.

  At that point, I had to push my thoughts aside. After all, it was time to pick my daughter up.

  A few minutes later, I was on my way over to Treasure Cove Elementary School. It was a scenic drive. Of course, the same thing could be said of most of the drives in town. That was part of what made Treasure Cove a major tourist destination. During the spring, summer, and fall, vacationers flocked here in droves. Mostly, they came to hang out by the beach. But there was also a cute downtown area filled with unique shops. In addition, Treasure Cove had a large collection of Victorian-style homes. Finally, the weather was almost always fantastic.

  One of the other benefits was the distinct lack of traffic. Even though Treasure Cove had just around thirty-thousand fulltime residents, none of the roadways were ever really clogged. That meant I was able to dart over to my daughter’s school in just under ten minutes. Ultimately, I managed to make it there just in time to see my daughter exit the building.

  When Jessica Carlson got into the passenger seat of my sedan, she had a look on her face that reminded me a lot of my sister. That was fitting, considering how Jessica was named after my older sibling. It was a shame that my sister didn’t live long enough to ever meet my daughter. The two shared a number of personality traits. The most notable one was their determination. If my sister was still alive right now, I had no doubt that she would get along so well with my daughter.

  Unfortunately, my sister went missing a number of years ago. She was just nineteen-years-old when she disappeared. It ended up taking eleven years to find out what happened to her. Much to my chagrin, the truth was devastating. After being abducted, my sister was murdered. Even though that devastating crime had taken place decades ago, I still got a shiver down my spine when I thought about it.

  I figured that putting my sister’s killer behind bars would alleviate some of the pain. But in the end, that was only a small consolation.

  The sad truth was, there was nothing I could do to bring my sister back. She was gone forever. As the years went by, it became clear that I would never really get over my sister’s death. It didn’t matter how much time passed. My wounds would never truly heal.

  Before I got too caught up thinking about the past, I tried to snap out of my brain fog. That became easier when I saw the smile on my daughter’s face.

  “Hi, Mommy,” Jessica said.

  “Hello, Sweetie,” I said. “Did you have a good day?”

  Jessica nodded.

  “That’s good to hear. What was so good about it?” I asked.

  “Those cookies you packed for my lunch were great,” Jessica said.

  I smiled. “I should have known you were going to say that.”

  “Do we have more cookies at home?” she asked.

  I shook my head. “Nope. That was the last of them.”

  She became deflated. “Oh.”

  “Enough about cookies, though. How was class?”

  “It was good.”

  “What did you learn about today?”

  “All kinds of things.”

  “Such as?”

  “Well, after lunch, Mrs. Kershaw went around the room and asked everyone in the class what we want to be when we grow up.”

  “Is that so?” I said.

  Jessica nodded.

  “And what was your answer?”
I asked.

  “I told Mrs. Kershaw I want to be a detective, just like daddy.”

  My eyes widened. “Is that right?”

  Jessica nodded. “Uh-huh.”

  “Wow. I didn’t expect that answer.”

  “Why not?”

  “I figured you’d say something else. Like a singer. Or a soccer player. Or maybe a baker.”

  Jessica shook her head. “No. I want to be a detective.”

  “What makes you so sure?”

  “I want to catch bad guys, just like daddy does.”

  My nose wrinkled. “When did you decide that?”

  “When I saw daddy on TV a few months ago,” Jessica said.

  I knew exactly the moment she was referring to. One evening, I had the news on while I was preparing dinner. That night, the local station was broadcasting an interview that they had recorded of David. In the interview, he was speaking about a case that he had recently wrapped up.

  When Jessica came out of her bedroom and saw her father on TV, she was slack-jawed. Thankfully, I was able to change the channel before Jessica caught too many details about the case. But honestly, she was so amazed to see her dad on television that she probably wasn’t paying attention to the specific words that were coming out of his mouth.

  For the entire rest of the night, Jessica was in awe of her dad. Of course, the circumstances behind David’s TV appearance weren’t exactly dinner-table conversation material. Jessica didn’t realize that, though. And she still didn’t understand that. Nor would I expect her to. After all, she was just a little kid.

  That said, I did know the awful details of the case that David had been interviewed about. Which was all the more reason that I wasn’t thrilled to hear about Jessica wanting to become a police detective.

  “You know, being a detective is a really dangerous job,” I said.

  “I don’t care,” Jessica said. “It’s what I want to do when I grow up. And you’re not going to change my mind.”

  I gave her a weary look. “Uh-huh.”

  ***

  It was safe to say that I had a rough afternoon. And it didn’t show any signs of getting better. When Jessica and I arrived at home, I told my daughter to get started on her homework. She did just that. Meanwhile, I tried to take my mind off of what my daughter had told me in the car.