Fatal Festive Donuts Read online

  Fatal Festive Donuts

  A Donut Truck Cozy Mystery

  Cindy Bell

  Copyright © 2017 Cindy Bell

  Cover Design By Annie Moril

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

  This is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents and locations portrayed in this book and the names herein are fictitious. Any similarity to or identification with the locations, names, characters or history of any person, product or entity is entirely coincidental and unintentional.

  All trademarks and brands referred to in this book are for illustrative purposes only, are the property of their respective owners and not affiliated with this publication in any way. Any trademarks are being used without permission, and the publication of the trademark is not authorized by, associated with or sponsored by the trademark owner.

  Contents

  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

  Also by Cindy Bell

  About the Author

  Baked Gingerbread Donuts with Ginger Glaze

  Chapter 1

  Winter was in full swing throughout the town of Marsail, and Brenda was quite happy about it, even though her cheeks were red, and her toes were cold buried deep inside her thick winter boots and underneath two pairs of socks. Sometimes she got a little tired of the cold weather, but most of the time she enjoyed it. Especially, if it snowed. However so far, there had been nothing but chilly days without a flake in the sky, and it was almost Christmas. The chance of a good strong storm faded with every day that passed. As another icy wind carried through the parking lot, a shiver coursed through her. She tightened the fluffy scarf around her neck and tried to get it tucked down into the collar of her jacket. No matter how hard she tried, the cool breeze still managed to get right down her shirt. She shivered and wrapped her arms around herself as she hurried towards the truck.

  “You’re not cold, are you?” Joyce peered over at her with a half-smile. “It’s practically spring weather out today.”

  “Spring weather?” Brenda gazed at her, her mouth half-open. “It’s freezing out here!”

  “Freezing is a bit of an exaggeration.” Joyce offered a mirthful smirk. “A nip in the air is the best way to start the day, that’s what I always say.”

  “Tucked in my warm bed is the best place for me today. I usually enjoy the winter weather, but this is just a bit too chilly.” She shivered again as she walked closer to the truck. The sight of it pleased her so much, that she almost forgot about how cold it was. The cheerful donuts painted along the side of their new truck seemed to sparkle with all of the Christmas lights bouncing off it. There it was, her very own business. Well, her business that she shared with Joyce. It made her so proud to see it on display among the other trucks that lined the long street. The holiday market was in full swing, and they’d managed to score a coveted space in the line of food vendors. Brenda was filled with excitement. They were off to a good start, but she was curious about exactly how well they would do during the market.

  It was impossible to deny the joy that spread throughout the cheerfully decorated section of town. Even the most reserved person could be swayed by giant candy canes, a good amount of garland, and the seasonal music that played through the speakers that had been erected. Later in the day there would be a Santa Claus set up for the children to visit. She felt a pang as she missed the opportunity to see Sophie sit on Santa’s lap this year. That was one of the drawbacks about going back to work. She had to miss a few special moments here and there. But not once had she regretted it. She felt enlivened by having so many new responsibilities, and fascinated by the possibilities of what the future might hold. Sophie had her own new experiences as she started her first year in school, and that was exciting in itself.

  “Look, they put new lights up along the walkway.” Brenda smiled. “They haven’t turned them on yet, but when they do they will be amazing. I’m so glad we decided to go ahead with the ornament donuts, I think they are going to be a huge hit.”

  “It was your brilliant idea to team up with a local artist to sell tiny ornaments along with the decorated gingerbread donuts. I never would have thought of that.” Joyce cast a smile in her direction.

  “I just figured if people are here to shop, then they might be swayed into buying a treat that comes with a decoration as well. And who can turn down a hand-painted ornament?”

  “I’m not one for ornaments, to be honest. I get one of those prelit trees. It’s great. I just pop it out of the box, then put it up, and Christmas is done.”

  “There’s certainly nothing wrong with that. I think once Sophie is grown up, I’ll be more likely to want an easy tree. But right now, everything about Christmas just seems so magical, and I want to enjoy that with her while it lasts.” She smiled at the thought of her daughter’s shocked eyes on Christmas morning. “All of the presents, and her favorite part is still finding the cookies with bites taken out of them.”

  “Oh boy, that must be a wonderful moment to share with her.” Joyce winked. “Kids, they really don’t stay young long, so you’re absolutely right to savor the time you have with them.”

  “I wonder what it will be like when she has children of her own.” Her mind wandered for a moment as they approached the truck. The entire street had been closed off for the holiday market.

  “That is something to be curious about. I imagine if she’s a mother like you, her kids will be just as wonderful. Have you and Charlie thought about having another?” Joyce cast a curious glance in her direction.

  “Oh, no. Not really.” She cleared her throat. “It’s hard to even think about it when we are both busy, and Sophie is such a great kid, it seems I don’t know, wrong, to shake things up?”

  “You think that. But life has a way of changing our minds about things.” Joyce shrugged. “I suppose time will tell.”

  “Yes, I think you’re right about that. Oh look, there are more trees up at the tree stand! Great timing, I wanted to buy a tree today. I’ve been looking forward to picking one out. I’m glad they decided to have a tree stand here, but I wonder who’s running it?” Brenda peered at the fenced in area, but didn’t notice anyone near the cash register at the front.

  “Remember, it’s Gray Spruel, they introduced him at the vendors meeting. It surprises me because one of the locals said that since he’s moved here they didn’t think he’s left his farm much. But he does sell trees off it during the season. At least, I’ve heard he does. I’ve never been on his property myself.” Joyce looked in the direction of the tree stand. “I’m not so sure it’ll be great having him here. He has a reputation for being standoffish. I personally do my best to avoid him as he simply has a gruff look about him.”

  “That surprises me, Joyce, you always strike me as so open. You’d really judge him by how he looks?” She raised her eyebrows in genuine shock.

  “Normally, I do my best not to judge, but once you see this man you’ll understand. There’s just something about him that makes me very uneasy. I don’t know how to explain it.” She wiped her hands together and shuddered. “It’s like I’m covered in spiderwebs.”

  “Hmm, do you get that feeling with anyone else?” She studied her f
riend.

  “A few other people, yes. Not often though. That’s why when I felt it around him, I paid attention to it. I know it may seem wrong to you, but sometimes you have to trust your gut. And from the stories I’ve heard about him over the last couple of weeks, I don’t think my instincts are far off.” She frowned. “You’ll have to decide what you think for yourself, though.”

  “I guess I will.” Brenda looked back at the tree stand, then glanced at her watch. “It’s early, but I think he might already be open. We have a little time before we need to get things started for opening. I’m going to go take a look at the trees for a few minutes if you don’t mind. We still need one for the house. I wasn’t sure if we should get one, since Sophie is already with my parents, but seeing as we are having Christmas lunch at my house and the fact that I like to leave it up for as long as I can after Christmas, I think I should. It’s nice having it there for New Year’s.”

  “That’s true. I don’t usually take mine down until mid-January, but that could be procrastination not celebration.” She laughed. “Go on and take a look. I’ll get things started on the truck.”

  “Thanks!” Brenda walked off towards the trees. A warm feeling still brewed within her from the time she spent with Joyce. Since Brenda’s bathrooms were being retiled and Joyce lived closer to the holiday market, which was on the outskirts of town, they decided that Brenda should camp out at Joyce’s place. With her daughter away with her parents, and Charlie so busy, it was the easiest way. She’d been a little nervous at first, because she wasn’t sure if she and Joyce would get along well if they were together all the time, but so far it had been better than she ever could have expected. Even though Joyce was a lot older than her, in many ways she felt as if she was like the sister she never had.

  As Joyce continued towards the truck she smiled to herself. She loved that she had the chance to be part of Brenda’s family, even if it was mostly through hearing stories and sharing memories. It brought a part of her alive that she had tucked away long ago.

  When Brenda walked up to the register, she looked around for Gray. She didn’t see any sign of him.

  “Hello?” She peered around some of the trees. Just then she heard a loud bang, loud enough to make her jump. As the sensation bolted through her body, her breath caught in her throat. She spun around and came face to face with a man as large, wide, and hairy as a grizzly bear.

  “Oh my!” She stumbled back, and slammed into a tree, which began to tip over.

  He thrust his arm forward, his rough, thick fingers headed straight for her face. She was too frightened to even manage to scream. His hand continued past her and caught the tree before it could topple the rest of the way behind her.

  “Careful there. You bruise it, you buy it.” His dark brown eyes squinted at her from beneath bushy eyebrows.

  “Sorry.” She caught her breath and moved a few steps away from him. “Something startled me.”

  “Yeah, I was opening up the stand. I didn’t know there was anyone here already.” He brushed his hand off on the thick, plaid jacket he wore.

  “I wasn’t sure if you would be here so early.”

  “I come in about five-thirty every morning. I set up all of the trees and water them.”

  “Oh, I hadn’t noticed you.”

  “I try to keep to myself. Some of the vendors are upset with me because I got such a large area at the market. I don’t like to get involved in that stuff. Anyway, are you looking for a tree?”

  “Yes, I think so.”

  “You think so?” He chuckled, but it was a bit rough. “Let me know if you decide you want one. I’ve got other things to do.”

  He turned and walked back off to his truck. She was a little unnerved. Joyce had been right, the man did send off a very unsettling vibe. Whether it was his size, or his demeanor, he didn’t exactly strike her as friendly. She shook it off, and focused on finding a tree. Whether or not he had good customer service skills, he had some beautiful trees to choose from.

  The branches of the pine trees greeted her with soft brushes against her jacket as she walked through the make-shift tree farm. No, it wasn’t the same thing as trekking up some mountain with an ax to cut down her very own tree, but personally, she preferred the convenience and safety of picking one out in a parking lot. There were so many to choose from that she wished her husband, Charlie was there to give her his opinion. He’d encouraged her to pick one out on her own as he was caught up in a story and couldn’t spare even a few minutes. She was used to this chaos around the holidays. They were the prime time for heartfelt and hard-hitting articles, both of which he dreaded, but was always asked to dig up. Even though he tended to report mostly on economic and political issues, the newspaper tapped all of their journalists for content as Christmas approached. She’d become accustomed to the late hours and sometimes multi-day absences. This was the first year since Sophie had been born that she was working, too.

  As Brenda reached out to touch the needles on one of the trees she recalled Sophie’s first Christmas. She’d wanted it to be perfect, but it turned into a mess. She’d spent hours decorating the tree, only to have Charlie accidently knock it over when he was hanging more lights on it on Christmas Eve. Many of her ornaments shattered, and she felt as if her baby’s first Christmas had been ruined. But Sophie didn’t even seem to notice. All she wanted was wrapping paper to crinkle and something to put in her mouth. It was the first of many humbling parenting lessons that she would face. The thought of being away from her during the holidays had given her some pause, but she knew that her parents would be more than happy to whisk her around to all of the holiday events in their town, and she would be busy with the market.

  A sharp voice drew her attention.

  “I don’t want to hear another word about it.”

  The words carried through the branches of the full tree she had her eye on. A moment later she recognized it as belonging to a man she knew, Jerry. Her skin crawled with annoyance the moment she recognized it. Jerry owned the bakery in the area. He had voiced his strong dislike at the fact that they had allowed the donut truck at the market. He had applied for a spot and it had been given to ‘Donuts on the Move’ instead. The market organizers had said that it was because donuts were in high demand and that people could still go to the bakery. They especially liked the fact that the truck made both fried and baked donuts. Jerry had believed that it was stealing his business and the spot should be his. She recalled the argument they’d gotten into a few days before. He made it very clear that he felt that she and Joyce shouldn’t have been allowed the spot, he was a local after all.

  While Joyce understood his concern to an extent, the fact was that if they hadn’t got the business then it would have been given to another bakery, donut or pastry stand. Besides, even though they both made donuts, the bakery sold many more products, so she didn’t know why he was so concerned. Business was business, she needed the business.

  Jerry stood on the sidewalk in front of his bakery and shouted at them both as they tried to serve customers. Joyce was so fed up she was ready to call the police for harassment, but Brenda had talked her out of it. She didn’t want to have a big feud brew between them and was certain that she could have a rational conversation with him that would lead to a peaceful conclusion. She couldn’t have been more wrong. He barely let her say a word and barked at her as if she were a child. At some point his words blended together into just noise as she realized that there was no reasoning with him. When she returned to the truck, defeated, Joyce had again offered to call the police, but Brenda insisted they play it by ear. Maybe he would calm down. Maybe he would accept that they weren’t going to move the truck.

  Hearing his voice as she looked over the tree, made all of that tension course through her muscles, yet again.

  A second voice, responded, just as sharply.

  “I won’t be dismissed like this. Do you understand me? I practically built that bakery from the ground up. You would
have never succeeded without me. You can’t just push me out like this.”

  She recognized the voice as belonging to Orville, a man she was more familiar with, as he was most often at the bakery. Since she had started working at the market she had stopped in a few times just to pick something up and he’d been quite cordial to her, the complete opposite of Jerry. He didn’t sound cordial now, however. She knew she shouldn’t be eavesdropping, but she was curious about why they were fighting, and with Jerry’s temper she wondered what he might do if things grew any more tense.

  “I can do whatever I please. I’m the owner of the bakery, and that’s part of the problem, you never could get that through your thick skull. You don’t get to tell me what to do. I’m the owner, not you. If you had a problem with my decisions you should have kept your mouth shut. Instead you disrespected me in front of my employees, and questioned my authority, as if you had any right to do that.” His voice raised an octave or two.

  “Your decision was reckless, and put the business at risk. Yes, you’re the owner, but you’re not the only one that relies on this business. If you do something to harm it, then we’re all at risk of losing our jobs. All I did was point out that you were making a mistake by deciding to put that stall out there and…”

  “Enough! I don’t want to hear anything else from you. You’ve been fired, and as far as I’m concerned now you are harassing me. If you contact me in any way again, I will call the police to handle the situation.”

  As he stormed away from Orville, she could see that his muscles were tense. Orville stared after him, his eyes low, and his shoulders slumped. She felt a good deal of empathy for him as she knew he was passionate about his job. Whatever happened between Jerry and Orville, she couldn’t believe that it was so bad that Orville deserved to be fired. However, it also wasn’t her business. As she turned her attention back to the trees she tried not to think about Jerry’s temper or the consequences that Orville faced. Instead she felt the needles of a nearby tree and considered what height would work best in the living room. Once she’d finally selected a tree, she headed to the register. She wasn’t so sure if she was ready to face Gray again, but her policy was always to kill people with kindness.