Caramels With A Side Of Murder Read online

  While I waited for my friend’s reply, I went over the sordid history of the estate in my head. For much of the twentieth century, the Watterson mansion represented the pinnacle of luxury in Treasure Cove. All that changed when Joe Watterson walked in on his wife cheating on him with the pool boy. Joe killed them both then turned his gun on himself.

  That horrific event had occurred a little more than twenty years ago. Ever since then, the property had been vacant. Over the years, the estate had fallen into disrepair. That made it all the more curious that I had just seen a light on in one of the upstairs windows of the estate.

  Or at least that was what I thought I had seen. Shannon’s baffled reaction to my statements made me question how much I could trust my own eyes.

  I grew uncomfortable waiting for her to answer. “Shannon—”

  My friend stopped staring at her black shoes and looked at me with fear in her eyes. “I thought I was just seeing things.”

  A shiver ran down my spine.

  I slammed on the brakes. My car came to an abrupt stop.

  “Wait. You saw the light, too?” I asked.

  Shannon reluctantly nodded.

  “I can’t believe it,” I said.

  “Of course you can’t. It doesn’t make sense.”

  “It may not make sense, but we both saw it.”

  “That’s what scares me,” Shannon said. “I mean, why would a light be on? No one lives there. The place has been vacant for years. Ever since…”

  Shannon couldn’t utter the words. She didn’t have to. I knew exactly what she was thinking.

  “There’s one way to find out what’s going on,” I said.

  I turned my car around and doubled back toward the Watterson estate.

  Shannon’s knee began to bounce nervously. “What are you doing?”

  A fierce determination was in my eyes. “I want to make sure we weren’t just seeing things.”

  She looked at me with pleading eyes. “Please don’t do this. Can you just turn the car around?”

  I shook my head. Although, by that point, Shannon’s protest had come a little too late. As my friend responded, I pulled up to the front of the property again.

  In order to get the best vantage point, I stopped the car exactly where I had seen the light on the first time we had passed the estate.

  My mouth hung open as I peered at the mansion and saw that a light was still on in one of the upstairs windows.

  “We’re not crazy,” I said.

  Shannon’s eyes were as wide as saucers. “Whoever said that seeing is believing didn’t know what they were talking about. I see the light on, but I don’t believe my own eyes.”

  I opened the driver’s-side door.

  Shannon was as panicked as I had ever heard her. “What are you doing?”

  “I just want to get a closer look.”

  Shannon reached over and tried to grab me. “You can’t go out there.”

  My forehead wrinkled. “Why not?”

  Shannon’s voice cracked as she replied, “Something really creepy is going on. We shouldn’t be here.”

  I stared at the estate with a deep curiosity in my eyes. “Don’t you want to figure out why that light is on?”

  She shook her head vehemently. “No. I want to get out of here.”

  I held my pointer finger up. “Just give me a minute.”

  Shannon started breathing heavily. “Sabrina, get back in the car.”

  I cautiously approached the front gate of the property to get a better view of the upstairs window. “One second.”

  Shannon groaned. “I have a really bad feeling about this.”

  Before I was able to really zero in on the window, I heard a loud rustling noise coming from the other side of the gate.

  Shannon’s eyes darted around. “What was that?”

  I stared at the thick patch of weeds that were on the other side of the gate. Unfortunately, it was too dark to make out what had caused the rustling noise—or much of anything, for that matter.

  Only one thing was certain—the rustling was not due to the wind. It was a clear, calm night. There wasn’t even the slightest hint of a breeze in the air.

  I shrugged. “I don’t know.”

  “Let’s not stick around to find out.”

  I pulled out my phone. Before I was able to load the flashlight app on the phone, I heard another rustling noise. This one was much louder and seemed to be coming from a much closer distance.

  My fight-or-flight instinct kicked in. Before I had a chance to mentally process what was happening, my body chose flight. My feet took a few steps back.

  That wasn’t enough for Shannon. “Get in the car right now. I’m calling the police. They can handle it.”

  Before I was able to argue with her, Shannon dialed 9-1-1 on her phone.

  As much as I wanted to take a closer peek at the upstairs window of the estate, Shannon looked like she was going to have a full-blown panic attack if we spent one minute longer in front of the gate.

  Much to Shannon’s relief, I reluctantly got back in my car and drove away, but not before calling my boyfriend, Detective David Carlson, first.

  Chapter Five

  Shannon was still a wreck when I dropped her off at her house. I tried to settle her down as much as I could, but my words didn’t do any good. She told me she was going to go inside, take one of her antianxiety pills, and hopefully crash out for the night.

  As Shannon headed inside her house, I backed out of her driveway and drove home. Once I arrived back at my place, I called my boyfriend. I was eager to hear if David had an update for me.

  “I had some deputies go over to the Watterson estate to check out that light,” David said.

  “And?” I asked.

  “There were no lights on when they got there.”

  I groaned. “I can’t believe it.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “I know that you may not believe me, but the light was on when I called you. I saw it with my own eyes.”

  “Honey, I believe you,” he replied. “All I’m saying is that the light was off when my deputies got there. Now, what happened between the time you called me and when the deputies arrived at the scene, I can’t say.”

  “Did the deputies see anyone or hear anything strange at least?”

  “No. They said there was no sign of anyone when they got there.”

  I shook my head. “This is so frustrating.”

  “To me, the most frustrating part is that you got out of the car in the first place. What were you thinking?” I asked.

  “I was just curious about what was going on.”

  “But you could have gotten hurt.”

  “How? You said it yourself. Your deputies didn’t see any sign of anyone when they got there.”

  “Sabrina, you’re talking out of both sides of your mouth. If you really believe someone was there, you shouldn’t have gotten out of the car.”

  “Okay. I’m sorry. But tell me you’re not curious.”

  “I am, but I’m also a professionally trained detective. If you keep throwing yourself into danger, it could come back to haunt you one day. It would kill me if something happened to you.”

  “I know. That’s why you’re the best, because you’re so sweet.”

  “Honey, you know I love a good compliment, but you can’t change the subject this time.”

  “I’m telling you. Something very suspicious is going on at that estate. I just can’t put my finger on it.”

  “Neither can I,” David said. “Now promise me you’re not going to do something like that again?”

  “I promise.”

  “Good.”

  A moment of silence followed.

  Before things turned awkward, I changed the subject. “So how was your night?”

  “I looked up the owner of the old banquet hall on Treasure Cove Lane,” David said.

  The old banquet hall was the site of a mysterious invitation-only meeting that David
and I had stumbled upon a few months ago. Despite our efforts to get inside the building, a burly doorman had turned us away.

  “And?” I asked.

  “It was bought seven months ago by a company called Black Tie Ventures.”

  My forehead wrinkled. “I’ve never heard of them.”

  “Neither had I, so I did some digging. According to the county clerk’s office, the owner of Black Tie Ventures is Seth Taylor.”

  “The car salesman?” I asked.

  “Yup. Wacky, huh?”

  “Baffling is more like it. He owns a string of car dealerships. What would he want with an old abandoned banquet hall?”

  “That’s exactly what I want to know.”

  “Did you ask him?” I replied.

  “I haven’t had a chance to. I just got the information a few hours ago.”

  “Well, let me know what you find out,” I said.

  “I will. By the way, are you all right?”

  “Yeah. Why are you asking?”

  “Sabrina, I know you. Don’t you think I can tell when something is bothering you just by listening to the tone of your voice?”

  “What can I say? It has just been a strange night all the way around.”

  “Is this about the psychic you went to?” he asked.

  My eyes widened. “You really do have amazing instincts.”

  “Well, I am a detective,” David said. “Now, how was your reading with the psychic?”

  “It was an experience, all right.”

  “I have a feeling that’s a massive understatement. I know Shannon believes in all that astral malarkey, but I hope you didn’t get wrapped up in any crystal ball nonsense.”

  It was safe to say that David wasn’t shy about his skepticism of psychics. I got the feeling that he expected me to get a good chuckle out of his statement. Instead, I became very quiet.

  When a few moments of silence passed, he spoke up. “Sabrina, are you still there?”

  “Yeah. I’m here.”

  “What’s the matter? What kind of kooky stuff did the psychic tell you?”

  With my boyfriend’s skepticism at full tilt, I didn’t feel like it was a good time to bring up Miss Terri’s mind-blowing prediction.

  “I’ll tell you about it tomorrow,” I said. “I’m just really tired right now.”

  I forced a yawn.

  “Okay. Well, I’ll let you go, then,” David replied. “I love you.”

  “Love you, too,” I said. “Good night.”

  Chapter Six

  “Find me,” Jessica said.

  The sound of my sister’s voice ripped me from my sleep. I rubbed my eyes and sat up in bed, shocked. Had I heard that right? Or was I more delusional than ever? Was I completely losing my grip on reality?

  I sat there, looking around, not seeing Jessica anywhere. All of a sudden, it was dead quiet in my bedroom.

  I plopped my head back down on my pillow, convinced that I was losing my mind.

  Then I heard my sister’s voice again.

  “Find me.”

  My eyes widened. Her voice was coming from the living room.

  I scrambled out of bed and bolted down the hallway.

  Unfortunately, when I reached the living room, there was no sign of Jessica anywhere. Just to make sure that I wasn’t going crazy, I opened the blinds and stared out the window.

  Jessica wasn’t outside, either.

  What was going on? It didn’t make sense.

  Finally, I heard her voice one more time.

  “Find me.”

  I called out. “Jessica. Where are you?”

  As I asked that question, I woke up in bed in a cold sweat. It took me a moment to get my bearings back, but when I did, I realized that I had just had a terrible dream.

  My pulse raced as I tried to catch my breath. That had felt so real and terrifying. So much so that I felt the need to get out of bed to check that I had really been dreaming.

  I retraced the steps I had taken in my dream, bolting into the hallway before making my way into the living room.

  I scanned the room and even looked outside my front window, but I didn’t spot anyone out there.

  What an awful tease of a dream that had been.

  I took a deep breath in an attempt to calm myself down. Just as my heart rate returned to normal, I heard the creaking of a floorboard behind me in the hallway.

  I whirled around with my eyes as wide as saucers and spotted my pet corgi, Snickerdoodle, approaching.

  The sound of the floorboard creaking had been enough to startle me. I put my hand over my chest.

  Snickerdoodle barked at me.

  “Doodle, you scared me half to death,” I said.

  Snickerdoodle scampered over to the front door. His tail wagged like crazy as he barked again.

  “No, Doodle, you can’t go for a walk at this hour.”

  He looked at me with his doughy puppy dog eyes.

  “Honey, you’re super cute, but it’s not even light out.”

  I returned to my bedroom.

  Snickerdoodle lingered at the door a moment longer then joined me when he realized that he wouldn’t be getting a walk quite yet.

  I looked at the time on my phone: 3:32 a.m.

  It was way too early to get up for the day, but I also worried about going back to sleep. What other nightmares might be waiting for me if I nodded off?

  I plopped my head back down on my pillow and thought about my sister for a stretch before I was finally too exhausted to keep my eyes open any longer.

  Chapter Seven

  When I woke up a few hours later, I gave Snickerdoodle the walk that he craved then headed over to Miss Terri’s house. Even though she had told me that there was nothing else she could do for me, I felt that it was important to talk to her again.

  After all, a full night of sleep usually did wonders for me. Maybe that was the case for her as well. Either way, if there was even a slight possibility that she would be able to give me more information about my sister, this would not be a wasted visit.

  I parked on the street in front of her place. Like a number of psychics, Terri ran her business out of her house. The parlor at the front of the house was used for psychic readings. Meanwhile, the kitchen, bedrooms, and bathrooms were all at the back of the house.

  I approached the front door and gave it a few knocks, not really expecting her to answer. It was only nine o’clock in the morning, and a woman like Terri didn’t exactly work banker’s hours. When Terri didn’t answer the door, I headed around the side of the house.

  That was when I heard some rustling. That was followed by the sound of footsteps coming from the backyard.

  “Hello. Terri. Is that you?” I asked.

  As I reached the backyard, I spotted a woman dashing away from the house. The forty-eight-year-old brunette was five-foot-two with a slender body, an oval face, and hazel eyes.

  She also had no interest in talking to me.

  “Hey. Why are you running?” I asked.

  The brunette went through the neighbors’ backyard and dashed toward the street that ran parallel to Terri’s house.

  I quickly turned to the right and noticed that Terri’s back door was cracked open.

  “Hey. What’s going on here?” I said.

  The woman just kept running.

  I started to take off after her, but I didn’t have any hope of catching her. She’d had too much of a head start on me. I ran after her at full speed, but by the time I reached the street that ran parallel to Terri’s house, the woman had already gotten into the driver’s seat of a green sedan.

  I pulled out my phone to get a photo of the woman’s license plate as she drove away, but I was unsuccessful. The car was too far away, and my phone couldn’t zoom in enough to get the information on the plate. I was only able to capture a picture of the sedan itself.

  With the sedan speeding away, I gave up my chase. I turned around and ran back to Miss Terri’s house. When I reached her back doo
r, I knocked.

  “Hello. Miss Terri,” I said.

  I received no answer.

  “This is Sabrina Daley, from last night,” I added. “Is everything okay?”

  Again, no response.

  I decided to head inside. I took a few steps forward into her living room. That was when I saw Miss Terri’s lifeless body on the ground. A bloodstained wooden baseball bat was on the floor beside her.

  ***

  I immediately called David. Fifteen minutes later, my detective boyfriend arrived. A slew of deputies followed shortly after. They were joined by a forensics team.

  When David spotted me, he rushed over and wrapped his arms around me.

  “Sabrina, are you okay?” he asked.

  “Of course I’m not. She’s dead,” I replied.

  “I meant, are you hurt?”

  “No. I’m fine.”

  A look of relief came to his face. “Good.”

  “I can’t believe it. Someone…” I couldn’t finish my sentence. “What kind of a person does something like this?”

  “There is plenty of time to figure that out. In the meantime, I have to ask, what are you even doing here?”

  I took a deep breath. “I just wanted to talk to Miss Terri again.”

  David’s forehead wrinkled. “Why?”

  “We can get to that later,” I said. “There are more pressing issues at the moment.”

  “Of course. This woman you saw running from the scene. Did you get a good look at her?”

  “Good enough.”

  David pulled out a pad of paper. “Can you describe her for me?”

  “I can go one better.” I pointed to a framed photo that was sitting on the corner of Terri’s desk. The photo was of Terri smiling and standing beside the same brunette woman that I had just chased. “That’s her.”

  David’s eyes lit up. “Fantastic. I’ll put out an all-points bulletin. With any luck, someone will spot her before she can get too far.”

  Chapter Eight