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

list of folks to
interview.   How did you know about
him?   Don’t tell me.   Emma told you, didn’t she?”
    I knew that I was
dancing close to the edge of the truth by not telling him everything, but I had
to protect Emma’s involvement, too.   I decided to slant my response to deflect Jake’s suspicion of my
assistant.   “As a matter of fact, the
man just paraded into the donut shop asking questions about Alex’s murder, and he
wanted an update on the progress you were making on the case.”
    “What’s so odd
about someone coming into Donut Hearts?   I thought that most of the town ate there sooner or later.   As for the case, the whole town’s
talking about it, so that doesn’t make Brandon Morgan all that different if he
wants to hear about how we’re doing.”
    “The thing is,
though, Brandon was one of the protesters outside the shop when I was battling
Lester Moorefield,” I explained.   “Seeing him in here is like finding a lump of coal in a bag of
marshmallows.   He just didn’t
belong.”
    “Okay, I get
it.   Maybe I’ll ask him about it
when I speak with him later today.   Thanks for the tip.”
    “In the spirit of
sharing, is there anyone else in April Springs you’re looking at particularly
closely?”
    Jake paused
another moment before answering.   “I
thought you were focusing on Granite Meadows and I was handling April Springs?”
    “That’s the plan,
but surely there’s going to be some overlap.   What am I supposed to do when one of
your suspects walks in and starts asking questions like Brandon just did?”
    “That’s a fair
point.   I can’t tell you anything
directly.   You know that, don’t
you?”
    “Well, can you at
least give me a hint?”
    “How about
this?   If anyone comes in asking
questions about Alex, let me know about it, pronto.”
    “You seriously
aren’t going to at least give me any idea about who I need to be careful
around?”
    “Suzanne, we’re
both working on a murder investigation.   You should be careful about everyone you see until we catch the killer.”
    “I know that,” I
said.   I saw a family of four
approaching the shop.   “I’ve got to
go.”
    “Don’t be cross
with me,” he said plaintively.
    “I’m not.   I’m just trying to run a business.”   I hung up on him before I could say
something that I would probably regret.   I knew that he was just doing his job and that sometimes it precluded
him from telling me everything he knew, even though I didn’t have that kind of
caveat.  
    That didn’t mean
that I had to like it.
    Apparently there
were going to be more things for us to get used to in our married life than
most couples had to go through.
    I knew that I’d
be fine once I had a little time to cool down.
    In the meantime,
I had customers to serve.

 

 
    Chapter 12

 
    “Hey there,” Jake
said, walking in just as I was about to close Donut Hearts for the day.   I’d sent Emma home early in reward for
covering for me while I’d been on my honeymoon, and she’d gladly accepted the
goodwill gesture.   I’d been there
alone for the past half hour, and of course, we’d gotten busy just moments
after Emma had gone on her way.   “Are
you still open?”
    “I was just about
to lock up,” I said, and then I did exactly that, flipping the sign to let my
customers know that there were no more donuts, at least for that day.   “I’m now officially closed, but I have a
few things I have to take care of before I can leave.”
    “Can I give you a
hand with anything?”   It was a nice
gesture, and I decided to take him up on his generous offer.
    “How do you feel
about sweeping?” I asked him with a smile.   I’d gotten over my little snit.   After all, he was just doing his job.   I had no right resenting the fact that
he couldn’t share everything he learned on a case with me.
    “As a matter of
fact, my mother made sure I knew how to operate a broom firsthand since I was
tall enough