Jingle Buried Cookies (Black Cat Cafe Cozy Mystery Series Book 9) Read online

  Jingle Buried Cookies

  Lyndsey Cole

  Contents

  Jingle Buried Cookies

  Copyright

  Connect with me:

  Book Description

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  About the Author

  Also by Lyndsey Cole

  Jingle Buried Cookies

  A Black Cat Café Cozy Mystery Series

  by Lyndsey Cole

  Copyright © 2016 Lyndsey Cole

  No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the author and/or publisher. No part of this publication may be sold or hired, without written permission from the author.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are a product of the writer’s imagination and/or have been used fictitiously in such a fashion it is not meant to serve the reader as actual fact and should not be considered as actual fact. Any resemblance to actual events, or persons, living or dead, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.

  The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication / use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.

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  Book Description

  Leona’s Christmas cookies are leaving a trail of cookie crumbs that lead anywhere but to a happy holiday.

  As soon as Annie and Jason return from a romantic getaway, a Santa-sized sack of problems lands on their doorstep. Jason might be able to pretend it doesn’t exist and just enjoy the upcoming holiday parties, but Annie has to help keep Aunt Leona out of trouble. Again.

  Running only on caffeine, the women get ready for the Black Cat Café’s Christmas extravaganza. A last minute change to who will come as Santa Claus threatens to bring the whole event down. But quick thinking and a willing volunteer save the day.

  Until that willing volunteer imbibes one drink too many. But that’s the least of the problems that keep piling up faster than the snowflakes of a Nor’easter.

  A body, poisonous berries, and competition from a cutthroat competitor threaten to end the Black Cat Café once and for all. Annie tries to sift through the half-baked information to uncover the real motive—and killer—before it’s too late.

  Chapter 1

  Annie’s first mistake Saturday morning was answering the incessant pounding on her door. She groaned before she rolled out of bed and padded down the cold stairs to the kitchen door of Cobblestone Cottage.

  Her second mistake was letting Leona and her aunt’s friend, Charlene, come inside. Although, letting Leona in wasn’t exactly an option. Annie’s aunt did exactly what she wanted to do and there was no stopping her.

  At the moment, Annie wanted nothing more than to enjoy a lazy morning in bed and plan the next step in her married life with Jason Hunter.

  “Good. You’re out of bed,” Leona said as she breezed through the open door. “I wasn’t sure if you and Jason would be sleeping in, ya know, after your fun-filled vacation.” She placed a box from the Black Cat Café on Jason’s dining room table. “I brought some yummy streusel-topped blueberry muffins to get you going. Haven’t you got any coffee made yet?”

  Annie pushed the door closed on the cold December air and silently counted to five to get her annoyance under control. She wondered how many sugary muffins Leona already consumed to give her so much unbridled energy. Or was she running completely on caffeine?

  “No coffee, Leona. Look at me.” Annie spread her arms out from her sides. “I’m still in my pajamas.” She looked at the clock on the kitchen stove. “It’s barely six a.m. Can’t whatever your emergency is wait a couple of hours?” Annie didn’t even bother addressing Leona’s partner in crime, hoping to get them out of the house before she was brought into the mix.

  “No. We’ve already waited two weeks for you to get home. Why on earth did you and Jason decide to go on a vacation at this time of year anyway, when it’s so busy with all the Christmas stuff going on?”

  No, ‘How was your vacation, Annie’ or ‘I hope you had a good time, Annie’.

  Charlene stood quietly with a look of embarrassment on her face.

  “Come on over and make yourself at home, Charlene. Annie doesn’t bite,” Leona more or less ordered her friend.

  At the moment, Annie wasn’t sure she agreed with Leona but she wouldn’t be biting Charlene. It would be Leona who should be worried about losing a digit to Annie’s teeth.

  “Is that a cat on your sofa or a dog with two heads?” Charlene asked.

  Roxy, Annie’s terrier mix raised her head. Snowball, a BIG white fluffy cat that moved in with Annie after her owner was murdered, stretched into the space where Roxy’s head had been resting.

  “Annie collects animals. That’s her dog and cat. There’s another cat around here somewhere, too.” Leona opened her notebook. “Let’s get this started. I have to be back at the café in an hour at the most.”

  Annie turned on her coffeemaker. It was set to automatically start at seven thirty but, clearly, that was much too late for the urgency of this morning. She opened Leona’s box and her mood softened slightly. How could she be too angry when a dozen warm streusel-topped blueberry muffins stared back at her? The aroma alone almost made her swoon. Everyone knew that Leona’s muffins were moist, sweet, and filled with berries that burst with every bite.

  “Okay. My eyes are open and I guess I’m ready to hear why you came barging in this morning like the wind in a nor’easter.” Annie chose the biggest muffin with the most streusel on top and settled in her chair.

  “Didn’t that resort feed the two of you on your vacation? Or,” Leona wiggled her brows, “did you not bother to take time to eat in between all your, ah, activities?”

  Leona roared with laughter.

  Charlene chuckled.

  Annie felt heat rise from her neck all the way to her forehead. “Geez. How about we turn the clock back, you knock on my door, and I’ll put the pillow over my head and ignore you.” Or, better yet, Annie said to herself, she’d put the pillow over Leona’s face until she promised to leave.

  “The truth hurts, I guess. Where’s Jason, anyway? I hate to think he’s missing out on all this fun.” Leona glanced up the stairs.

  “If he’s smart, he won’t be down until he knows you are long gone.” Annie rose and brought the coffee pot, cups, cream, and sugar to the table. “I am curious, Leona. What’s got you all riled up this early in the morning?”

  Leona tapped both hands on the table and leaned forward. Her eyes were shining. “Well, you know the Christmas party scheduled for to
night?”

  Annie nodded. The whole reason she and Jason came back a day early from their vacation in Hawaii was so they’d be able to go to the Christmas party Leona was hosting at the Black Cat Café. This would be the tenth year for the event and it was a very big deal for the town of Catfish Cove.

  “There’s a problem,” Leona announced.

  That was exactly what Annie did not want to hear. But this was her Aunt Leona, after all, and drama had a habit of showing up with her, or even sometimes in front of her. Annie decided to enjoy the blueberry muffin and let Leona share her ‘problem’ at her own pace.

  “You can say no, Annie,” Charlene said.

  “No she can’t,” Leona blurted out. “Besides, it isn’t really Annie we came to ask, now is it?”

  “I thought you said she’d help us convince Jason to say yes?”

  Annie’s head swiveled back and forth between Charlene and Leona as she tried to decipher what the heck they were talking about.

  “I changed my mind as soon as I saw that don’t bother me look on her face when she opened the door.” Leona talked right over Annie as she helped herself to coffee even though it was painfully obvious that more caffeine was the last thing she needed. “When is Jason coming down?”

  “Good question,” Annie said. After Leona left, if he had any sense.

  “Okay, here’s the thing,” Leona started. “Charlene’s in charge of organizing the entertainment for the Christmas party this year and she can’t find a piano player.”

  Charlene finished the explanation. “Leona promised me that you’d help.”

  “I don’t play the piano,” Annie said, with more than a little irritation in her voice. Really? At six in the morning they had to wake her up from a cozy sleep to ask her about something she knew nothing about?

  “Of course you don’t. We want to ask Jason. Or, maybe you can sweet talk him into helping us.”

  Annie stood and almost knocked her chair over. “At the last minute? That’s crazy!”

  “I’ll do it,” Jason’s deep voice replied from halfway down the stairs.

  Annie turned around and mouthed a big NO but it was too late. Charlene already had a manila envelope out of her gigantic tote that she handed to him. “Here’s the music.”

  “Great,” Leona said. “I knew you wouldn’t let the town down. It’s all Christmas songs for the sing-a-long, and then we let people make requests. You can play that kind of stuff, right?”

  “I’ll manage.”

  “And …” It was Leona’s turn to pull something out of Charlene’s gigantic tote. “You have to wear this.” She held up the ugliest, gaudiest, button-down, wool sweater that Annie had ever seen. It sparkled with reds and greens and silly reindeer all on a black background. And it was a button sweater, not a pullover.

  Jason’s eyes popped all the way open.

  Annie covered her mouth. Served him right for agreeing to anything Leona proposed, she thought.

  “I don’t know about that,” Jason said.

  “Be a sport. Most of the guests will be wearing ugly sweaters. It’s the tradition.”

  The laugh Annie tried to suppress snuck out as a muffled snort.

  “And this is for you to wear, Annie; a Mrs. Claus outfit.”

  “I don’t think so. Who will be Mr. Claus?” There were several people Annie certainly didn’t want to be paired with.

  “There’s a last minute switch. Usually, Paul Ames dresses as Santa, but he called last night and said he has a stomach bug. My husband reluctantly agreed to fill in,” Charlene said. “You know Nelson, don’t you?”

  Annie did, and he was one of those people at the top of her list that she tried to stay as far away from as possible. There was no way she’d agree to have anything to do with him at the Christmas party. “Ask Camilla. She’s so much better at playing a part than I am.” She felt a little bad about throwing Camilla under the sleigh like that, but she had plenty of experience keeping men at bay.

  Leona shoved the outfit back in the tote. “Good idea. You can be an elf, like the rest of us, instead. And bring Roxy. Here’s your elf costume and a big red nose and antlers to turn Roxy into a reindeer. The party starts at seven, but come early to help with any last minute stuff. No later than six.”

  Annie rolled her eyes and didn’t dare look at Jason after she laughed at his sweater outfit. He might have gotten the better deal after all.

  But at least she talked her way out of being teamed up with Nelson Abbott. And it was doubtful that Roxy would cooperate, but there was no use in arguing with Leona. She had her mind made up, and with any luck, if they didn’t argue about any more details, Leona and Charlene would leave.

  And that was the third mistake Annie made: thinking luck had anything to do with anything.

  Chapter 2

  By the time Annie arrived at the Black Cat Café, Leona and her other elf helpers—Annie’s mom, Mia, her pseudo grandmother, Martha, and Leona’s fiancé, Danny—had the café transformed into Santa’s workshop.

  The café tables, draped with green and red cloths, had been moved into the hallway which opened the café’s floor space for the Christmas party guests. A beautifully decorated, seven-foot tall blue spruce stood in the corner with lots of wrapped boxes spread underneath. The tree glistened with white lights and shiny red balls. Greenery, entwined with more tiny white lights, adorned every possible nook and cranny in the café. A piano waited for Jason’s nimble fingers just to the left of the Christmas tree with a large red poinsettia adorning the top.

  Annie helped herself to a mug of hot cider, inhaling the cinnamon-apple aroma until her mouth watered.

  Leona grabbed Annie by the elbow before Annie even spotted her. “Good, you’re finally here, what took you so long?”

  “I—” she started, not realizing that coming at six—like she’d been told—was too late for Leona.

  “It doesn’t matter. I need you to set up more tables in the hallway. Everything you’ll need is stacked up against the wall.” Leona flitted away to give orders to another one of her elf helpers while Annie took a deep breath and wondered why she ever agreed to help with this chaos.

  Right, she really had no choice unless she wanted to be on Leona’s naughty list.

  Before Annie had a chance to get to the tables, she saw Nelson, in his Santa outfit, reach over and grab Camilla’s backside. She jumped away and smacked his hands. “If you ever do that again, you’re dead. Understand?” she hissed. Camilla strode toward Annie, her whole body sending out repellant vibes.

  “What’s the story with Mr. Roaming Hands Santa?” Camilla whispered in Annie’s ear. “He’s been standing in the corner with his flask, grabbing anyone who walks by and asking what they want for Christmas. He shouldn’t be anywhere near a Santa outfit. Or women, for that matter.”

  “I couldn’t agree with you more, and I suspect there will be more problems with him. I’m surprised he’s drinking, though. I heard he quit.”

  “I guess he fell off that wagon,” Camilla replied with disgust dripping from her words.

  Camilla, true to her personality, had dyed her blonde bob white, and filled out the size six Mrs. Claus costume perfectly. Annie could totally understand why she was having trouble with Mr. Roaming Hands. Annie knew she wasn’t asking for the attention, but she was stunning tonight. Annie even wanted to reach out and touch Mrs. Claus’s soft-as-silk looking sleeve.

  “Stomp on his toes or threaten to break his fingers if you have to. That guy doesn’t understand subtle. I have no idea how Charlene puts up with him.”

  Annie recruited Camilla to help her set up the tables and spare her having to stand with Mr. Claus. It was the least she could do since it was all her fault that Camilla got stuck being the other half of the Santa team anyway. “How long have you been here?”

  “An hour. Leona told me to show up at five but I don’t know why because she insists on doing everything herself. She’s going to have a breakdown if she doesn’t slow down,” Cam
illa said. “I think she just wanted me to babysit Mr. Claus. Ugh!”

  “Yeah, she showed up at my house, pounding on the door, at six this morning. Jason and I weren’t even out of bed yet. She acted like she’d already had a gallon of high-test coffee and plenty of sugar-filled pastries.” Annie pulled a folding table away from the wall and waited for Camilla to hold the opposite end so they could lock the legs into place.

  “She was probably sampling her cookies. Have you seen them yet?”

  Annie shook her head and flapped one of the white tablecloths over the table.

  “She really outdid herself. Each cookie is intricately hand decorated. Too beautiful to eat in my opinion. She’s got Santas decorated right down to the laces on the black boots to reindeer with wreaths of bells around their necks and everything in between including snow globes, snowflakes, and beautifully wrapped Christmas presents. I can’t even wrap a real present as well as she decorated those cookies!”

  Annie shook her head. “She always wants to be perfect with her cooking but this sounds a bit over the top. Is she trying to impress someone?” The second table stood in place, also covered with a white tablecloth.

  Camilla looked around. The hallway sparkled with the café tables decorated and ready for guests to enjoy a drink and a sweet treat. “Well, I did hear her telling your mother about a big, fancy catering job she’s hoping to get. I don’t know who it is but my guess is that they’ll be here for the Christmas party and Leona’s trying to wow them with her cookies.”

  Annie’s eyes popped. “I bet she’s trying to get hired for the glitzy Christmas Eve gala at the Heron Inn. She’s wanted that job in the past but Mrs. Delaney always hired Cookie Snow instead, the owner of Cookies ‘n Dreams.” Annie smoothed a few wrinkles out of the tablecloth. “Well, that explains why she’s been so hyper today, Leona has to show Mrs. Delaney that her cookies can’t be topped by anyone.”