Baby Bundt Cake Confusion (Murder in the Mix Book 31) Unknown (good beach reads .txt) 📖

man. I’m glad to see you here. I just spoke to the department this afternoon, and the gun they found on the scene was indeed the one that was used to do the deed. It was registered to Owen.”

“Oh my gosh, Noah.” I shake my head. “How would the killer get their hands on Owen’s own gun?”

He shrugs. “He may have sensed danger, pulled it out, and the killer wrestled it away from him. The possibilities are seemingly endless.”

Slater takes a step back. “Wait a minute. What if Owen did this? He and Jazzy had been spending some serious time together as of late. Maybe they were having an affair? Maybe she threatened to leave him? He could have shot both of them and threw the gun out a few feet.”

Jen shakes her head. “It makes sense. I mean, no offense, Slater, but neither of them was big on morals. I wouldn’t put it past Jazzy to sleep with Ariella’s husband. And that would explain why things have been tense between Ariella and Jazzy lately.”

“Tense?” I ask.

She offers a quick nod. “They were always very close, but as of late they were getting at one another’s throats. I bet Ariella wasn’t too keen on sharing her man.”

Lil’ Mama growls, “Mrs. Albright always said all men were fair game and were meant to be shared. Lottie, she’d approve of the fact you have two men. She might dare to borrow one or both of them for herself. She was always up for what she referred to as a beefy buffet.”

I can’t help but make a face at the cute little pooch.

No one gets a bite out of my beefy buffet but me. Wait, that didn’t come out right. Did it?

“You know”—I look to Noah and Everett—“it would boil my blood to think someone was trying to steal my man. And if I found out it was true, I might be fit to kill. Do you think Ariella could have done this? I bet she certainly had access to Owen’s gun. She might have been carrying it that night. Everett, you were carrying mine.”

“You have a gun?” Slater glances down at my blooming belly before meeting up with my eyes.

“For safety purposes,” I tell him, and Jen gives a little laugh.

“You’re too humble.” Jen flicks a wrist my way. “Cormack told me all about the fact you and she have competing detective agencies.”

Slater blinks my way. “I didn’t realize that. But in keeping things out in the open, I’ve hired Cormack to help find the killer. My apologies, Noah. I have complete faith in the investigative process, but I wanted to do a little extra. Jazzy and I may have been on the rocks, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t love her. And I won’t stop until whoever did this is put away behind bars.”

He hired Cormack? Poor guy. I guess I can’t blame him for his poor judgment. He is grieving, after all. His head is all over the place.

“Well, I hope she tracks down the killer,” I tell him. “And I personally don’t have a detective agency. The war is solely in Cormack’s mind.”

Speak of the blonde devil.

“Don’t listen to her, Slater,” Cormack screeches. “She’s been gunning for my job and my man for the last few years.” She latches herself onto Noah, and he quickly but kindly removes her tentacles from his person. However, Cormack doesn’t waste a minute before latching onto Slater in the exact same manner.

“I’m so sorry for all you’re going through,” she coos while dotting his nose with her finger. “How about I come over later and make you forget about all your troubles?”

“Cormack,” I hiss. “He just lost his wife.” Otherwise, I wouldn’t put the kibosh on that good time. Slater is the first man I’ve seen her hit on in the last few months, if not year, other than Noah.

Slater offers a mournful smile my way. “In Cormack’s defense, it’s common knowledge Jazzy and I were over. But”—he does his best to back away from her—“I’ll take a rain check on the offer. Even though Jazzy and I were through, quite frankly, this is affecting me just as much as if we weren’t. I’m just not there yet.”

Cormack wrinkles her nose at him before henpecking at his neck with her sniffer.

“Is that scent Enchanted by Vera Veragamo?” She tucks her nose right against the poor man’s flesh.

“What?” Slater’s face picks up a little color. “No, I’m sure it’s not. It’s probably my cologne. I reached for one blindly on my way here. Who knows, I may have grabbed one of Jazzy’s old perfumes?”

“No.” Cormack shakes her head. “I recognize that warm and musky scent. It’s definitely Enchanted by Vera Veragamo, and everyone knows Jazzy was allergic to most women’s perfume. It made her eyes tear up and her nose run.”

Warm and musky?

Stassi blinks through my mind. It’s one of the first things I noticed about her when we met up with her at Fortune that night.

“There’s no perfume.” A nervous laugh strums from Slater, and I can’t help but think he looks as if he’s just been caught with a hand in the perfume bottle. Although, I think we all know his hand was most likely in far more dicey locales. “Great place, Jen,” he says. “I’ll stop by again sometime soon when it’s not so busy.”

“Oh”—Cormack grabs ahold of the poor guy’s tie—“Cressie and I are hosting a do-over event at our charming new B&B in two weeks.” She winks my way. “And to think, we almost lost it tonight. All’s well that ends well.”

“Indeed.” Slater smiles to the loon strangling his tie. “I’ll be there for sure. I wouldn’t miss it.” He nods our way before ducking out the door.

“See that?” Cormack leans in and bounces her brows. “He’s still seeing the other woman. Anyone else notice that Stassi isn’t here? I bet he’s running off to get some more sugar. They say the grieving process can be very difficult.”

Jen shakes