Pumpkin Spice Lies: A Pumpkin Hollow Mystery, book 16 by Kathleen Suzette (new books to read .txt) 📗

covered in dirt lying on top of the mound. When I got closer, it looked like an emerald ring. I reached for it, but when I tried to pick it up, it was stuck. I wiggled it, trying to make it come free. And that was when I screamed.

Chapter Three

The following morning dawned clear and bright. The weatherman said it would be a hot one, and I wasn’t looking forward to the heat. I was dressed as Waldo, substituting a long-sleeve T-shirt for the sweater, and I hurried to my car, casting a glance over my shoulder at Ethan’s cottage across the street. His truck still wasn’t parked in the driveway. Pulling my phone from my pocket, I saw it was just after six a.m. An image came to mind of the ring I had tried to pick up from the mound of dirt at the park the previous evening, and it made me shudder. There had been a hand attached to it.

I drove over to the Little Coffee Shop of Horrors and went inside. Brian was behind the counter and he gave me a sleepy grin.

“Hey, Mia. Fancy meeting you here this early.”

I forced myself to smile. “You look like you didn’t sleep well.” I had dated Brian in high school and now he was married to my best friend. Sometimes life takes a turn, and it really is for the best.

He shook his head. “Isabella isn’t cooperating.”

I chuckled. Brian and Amanda had just had their first baby, and she was just over a month old. Sleep was a precious commodity for the two of them.

“I bet. But she’s so darn adorable, it totally makes up for it.”

He nodded, grinning. “She sure is. I still can’t get over the fact that I’m a father. I mean, we have a baby.” He shook his head. “Who knew that becoming a father was the best thing in the world?”

I chuckled. “She is pretty amazing. Little Isabella is one lucky baby, with parents like you and Amanda.”

Brian blushed. He was dressed as Dracula, and I thought he would regret the cape if he had to spend much time outside today. “Thanks, but I think we’re the lucky ones. That baby is the most perfect baby I’ve ever seen.”

“You can say that again.” I grinned and glanced up at the order board. “How about you make me a bloody vampire, a vanilla mummy, and then—oh, why don’t you make me seven vanilla mummies?”

“You got it. Is Ethan with you?” He glanced at my car parked at the curb.

I shook my head. “No, he had a late night. Why don’t you add an extra shot of espresso to the bloody vampire? I think he could use it right about now.” The bloody vampire was a raspberry mocha, and I knew Ethan would appreciate it. Not to mention he probably needed the extra caffeine right about now.

He picked up a cup. “You bet. So he had a late night?” he asked as he got to work on the coffees.

“Yeah.” I glanced over my shoulder, but the coffee shop was empty. “Christy and I found a body at the park.”

His eyes widened. “Really? Who was it?”

I shrugged. “I have no idea. Whoever it was, they were buried.”

“Wow. At the park? The night before Pumpkin Hollow Days begin?”

I nodded. “I don’t know what’s going to happen with the vendor’s fair. Hopefully, Ethan has done all the investigating he needs to do, and the fair can go on as planned.”

He squirted whipped cream onto the bloody vampire. “Yeah, that would be a shame if it had to be canceled.”

“Don’t say that. We’ve all been looking forward to this. My mother has made a lot of extra candy. In fact, she should be at the candy store making some more right now.” I glanced at my phone again, then looked at the display case of baked goods. There were three kinds of scones. “I hate to clean you out, but why don’t you give me eight scones? Any flavors.”

“You got it,” he said as he continued working on the coffees.

“Who’s doing all your baking now that Amanda is taking some time off?” Amanda was the baker at the shop, and she was in no hurry to go back to work with little Isabella at home.

He grinned. “That would be me. She watched me do it for a few weeks before turning me loose. I think I’ve turned into a pretty good baker.”

“That’s awesome. That means she can put you to work in the kitchen indefinitely.”

His brow furrowed. “No, thanks. I might be good at it, but it isn’t my favorite thing to do.”

“Suit yourself,” I said with a shrug.

When Brian finished making the coffees, he put them into two cardboard carriers and put the scones into smaller bags, and then all of them went into a larger bag. I paid for everything and hurried out to my car. On my way to the park, I dropped most of the coffee and scones off at the candy store. I kept one coffee for Ethan, and one for myself and brought two scones with me.

***

I parked on the side of the park that was closest to the playground area. The police had set up a chain-link barricade that they had covered with tarps so no one could see what was happening on the other side. I breathed out and steeled myself as I walked around the side of the barricade.

Ethan was talking to a uniformed officer. He smiled tiredly at me when he saw me.

“Hey,” I said, approaching him. The officer left, and I handed Ethan a coffee and a scone. “I thought you might need these.”

“You have no idea,” he said and kissed me. He took a sip of his coffee and