Jessica Beck - Donut Shop 18 - Dangerous Dough by Jessica Beck Page A

now.”
    “Congratulations,”
Brandon said automatically.   “He’s
still working on the case, though, isn’t he?”
    “In a manner of
speaking,” I said.  
    “Does he have any
leads yet?” Brandon asked me, his voice lowered to a near whisper, as though he
were having trouble getting the words out.
    It was rather
curious behavior, and I had to call him on it.   “Why all of the sudden interest in what
happened to the new police chief?”
    “What do you
mean?”   Brandon definitely looked a
little guilty when I’d asked.   “We’re
just talking.”
    “Maybe so, but the
last time you were within a hundred yards of Donut Hearts, you were holding a
sign that said, ‘Donuts Kill!’   Now
you’re in here eating my treats and asking me questions about a murder that
doesn’t concern you.   Or does it?”
    “Like I said, I’m
just making polite conversation,” he said.   “Can I get these to go?   I
need to be somewhere.”
    “Sure thing,” I
said.  
    As I started to
bag his partially eaten donuts, Emma came in through the kitchen.   “Suzanne, we’re running low on
flour.   Would you like me to call—?”   The second she saw Brandon, she faltered,
and her sentence died in the air mid-delivery.
    “I already called
him,” I said.   “More is on the way.”
    “Good.   Fine.   I’ll just get back to work, then.”   My assistant was gone in an instant, and
Brandon was looking in her direction with a curious expression that defied
explanation.
    “Thanks for the
donuts,” he said as he held up the bag and shook it a little.
    “Come back
anytime,” I said.

 
    The moment he was
gone, I opened the door to the kitchen.   “Emma, would you mind coming here for a second?”   If I stood in the doorway, I could carry
on a conversation with her and still watch the front.  
    “What’s up, boss?”
    “That’s what I
want to know.   The instant you saw that
Brandon Morgan was in the donut shop, you couldn’t get out of the front fast
enough.   Do you two have some kind
of history that I don’t know about?”
    “Me and
Brandon?   Yuck.   You’re kidding, right?”
    “Well, there’s
got to be some reason you acted so weird around him.”   I thought about it for another moment,
and then I made an educated guess.   “He’s on your dad’s list of suspects, isn’t he?”
    Her expression
told me that I’d scored a direct hit.   “What?   No.   I never said that.   No way.”
    “Emma,” I said
softly.   “I won’t tell anyone where
I got my information.”
    “I can’t,” she
said.   The way her voice quivered, I
could tell that she was on the edge of tears.
    “That’s
okay.   You don’t have to tell me a
thing.”
    “Dad would kill
me,” she said, a pleading quality in her voice that it pained me to hear.
    “I get it.   We’re good.”   I closed the door and faced the
counter.   While Emma hadn’t
confirmed anything outright, I was pretty sure that I was on the money.
    At that point, I
did what any self-respecting concerned citizen would do.
    I decided to call
the police.

 
    Well, not just any
police.   I knew that my husband had
recently retired from being an officer of the law, but he was still working as
a cop, and I wasn’t certain that I could ever think of him any other way.   “Jake, I’ve got a hot tip for you.”
    “I’ll take it,”
he said.   “I’m still trying to get
settled in over here.   Evidently
Manfred is on the move, because he hasn’t been in here all morning.   What have you got?”
    “You should look
for some kind of connection between Alex Tyler and Brandon Morgan.”
    There was dead
silence on the other end of the line for a few moments, and then Jake finally
spoke.   “How did you know about
that?”
    “About what?”
    “While we were in
Paris,” Jake explained, “Alex arrested Brandon for speeding, and the two of
them got into a pretty ugly confrontation right on the street.   I’ve got him on my