Spicy Christmas Murder Read online

  Merry Christmas,

  Thomas Drake

  Margo took in a sharp breath of realization.

  Most likely, as the coroner had said, Henrietta had been killed outside. She was probably holding the note—in order to check the address—and dropped it when she fell. Then, because of the fresh falling snow that same evening, the police had missed this vital piece of evidence completely.

  If the note was correct, it meant that the sheriff had the wrong person locked up. Even if Diego was an ex-criminal and drug runner, he wasn’t the murderer or the thief.

  It seemed that Henrietta herself, Margo’s old friend and employee, was the one doing the stealing. More than likely, she was taking the stock directly from the store shelves. According to the letter, it seemed that Thomas Drake had figured out what she was doing. Did this mean that he was the killer?

  This caused Margo to pause.

  Thomas Drake had been on the job all morning long during the time of the murder. He’d even gotten into an argument with one of his coworkers on the floor.

  Finally, Margo remembered something vital to the case. Gasping, she glanced down at the letter again, and at Thomas’ name written there.

  The day before, just outside the factory, she had encountered a young man in a business suit who had looked uncannily familiar. However, she’d been unable to place him. Now she realized he looked very similar to Thomas Drake, her newest line worker at the factory. She figured that they might be related, maybe even brothers.

  Thomas had broken several bottles the last day at the factory, and he even kept his hat, goggles, and, mask on during the whole argument. He never spoke out loud or defended himself.

  It was because it hadn’t been Thomas at all, but a look alike.

  Maybe he’d told the man that there was a potential job for him in it if he just did what he asked. The job market was difficult, to say the least, and perhaps the stranger had agreed just to get an in.

  Shaking her head, she folded the note and pocketed it, retrieving her phone in the same motion. She needed to call the sheriff right away.

  Suddenly, the crunch of feet on snow drew her attention and Margo spun around before she could dial out.

  She let out a quiet squeak of surprise upon spotting Thomas Drake standing there at the mouth of the drive, a gun pointed at her.

  “Put that phone down right now,” he ordered.

  Margo obeyed without hesitation, dropping the phone into the snow.

  “Good, now hand over that note.” He held out an expectant hand.

  She dug into her pocket again to grab the incriminating paper, but stopped when a familiar voice echoed through the chilly air.

  “Not so fast,” Sheriff Carlsbad commanded, stepping into the open circle of trees from behind another one of the snowy bushes. He had his gun trained on the assailant.

  “What the heck? What is this?” Thomas growled.

  “Put your gun down, now,” he shouted.

  The murderer hesitated, his eyes darting from the cop to the woman.

  “Things will go easier for you if you just put that gun down.”

  “Not a chance. You’re not going to prove it was me,” he shouted, stalling.

  “I can bet that gun your holding will match the bullet that killed Henrietta White,” he accused.

  “And what about this note,” Margo got the courage to say.

  “What’s going on, Mom?” Sandra asked, coming to the door.

  “Go back inside,” the concerned mother ordered.

  “Oh, my goodness,” she exclaimed, her face going pale as she collapsed.

  Thomas looked over as the girl fell, his guard down for just a second.

  It was long enough.

  Like a streak of lightning, the sheriff ran and tackled the gunman to the ground, handcuffing his arms behind his back. “You’re under arrest for the murder of Henrietta White. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law.”

  Realizing things were now safe, Margo ran to her daughter’s side.

  15

  Monday, December 25th – Christmas Day

  The melodic ting of a knife against glass rang out over the table as Margo stood up, raising her mug of cider. “Before we dig into this delicious Christmas dinner, I just wanted to say a few words of gratitude.”

  Sandra, Patrick, and Sheriff Carlsbad—whom Margo had invited to eat with them—all looked up from the delicious looking array of turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, and pumpkin pie with smiles on their faces.

  “I just want to say how thankful I am to have Sheriff Carlsbad with us this evening to celebrate this day of peace and happiness. This day would not exist without all the hard work you’ve done over the past few days.”

  “Hear, hear,” Sandra agreed, lifting her own mug.

  “I can’t take all the credit,” he admitted, raising an eyebrow at the spiky haired woman.

  “Still, you managed to save my life, and possibly the life of my daughter. On top of that, you managed to apprehend the killer of an old friend.”

  “Just doing my job,” he said, his smile widening.

  “In any case, I’d like to dedicate this meal to you. To quote Dickens, To Sheriff Carlsbad, ‘the founder of the feast’.”

  “The founder of the feast, indeed,” Sandra joked.

  The whole group laughed, raising their mugs and drinking the hot mulled cider. “To Sheriff Carlsbad,” they all said.

  “Thank you. This means a lot,” he accepted the praise warmly.

  “You deserve it.”

  “I very much appreciate this meal. I usually spend my Christmas in front of the TV with a beer. Never been much of a family man, I suppose.”

  “Maybe we can change that,” Sandra teased, her eyes passing from him to her mother.

  Margo rolled her eyes. “Let’s eat.”

  The dishes filled to the brim with tasty food were passed around for everyone to get a serving.

  “So, I don’t mean to bring up work, or the murder case, at the dinner table, but what is going to happen to Diego now? I mean, he isn’t the killer.” Sandra leaned in, looking at the sheriff.

  “Nothing is going to happen to him. He was never arrested.”

  “What?” Margo exclaimed.

  “I’m sorry I had to do it, but I lied about the whole thing. Diego has no more of a criminal background than I do, and all of the places I called confirmed his deliveries were at the times he noted.”

  “Now, wait a minute. I don’t understand. Why tell us all of that if it wasn’t true?” Margo demanded to know.

  “It was a diversion. I knew the real killer was probably keeping an eye on your cabin, or at least I had hope. I was still under the assumption that you were potentially the intended victim.” He pointed at Margo.

  “You put me in harm’s way on purpose.”

  “Oh, don’t you worry, I was there the entire time watching everything. Anyway, I knew that the killer would already be waiting around at the scene of the crime, or that he’d come back once he heard we’d arrested someone. Luckily, I was dead on. When he came out of the trees with his gun, I was there as well to stop him.” He raised his glass to Sandra and smiled. “The real hero is you, my dear. If you hadn’t fainted, I might not have gotten my chance to take him down.”

  Sandra’s face flushed from embarrassment.

  Patrick laughed, raising his glass. “To my fiancé.”

  “But he wasn’t coming back to kill me. He was coming back to find that note he’d accidentally left behind,” Margo said.

  “That’s right. He probably assumed that he could easily just grab it and leave without anyone seeing him. Thankfully, you found the note before he could get to it. Altogether, it meant we not only caught the murderer red handed, with the murder weapon, but we also had a note proving that he was there. With the confession from his brother that he’d stood in at the factory, we basically have this case in the bag.�
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  “Thank heaven for that,” Margo agreed. She turned to the sheriff, her eye narrowing upon him. “I still don’t like you tricking us like that.”

  “Hey, without you, solving this case might not have been possible,” he complimented her as he cut into his turkey and took a bite.

  “Perhaps,” she laughed.

  “This is really delicious.”

  “It’d be better with this,” she offered, handing him a bottle of her famous chipotle hot sauce.

  “I never say no to hot sauce.” He took the bottle and unscrewed the cap, adding some on top of his food. Scooping up the sauce with a little bit of turkey, gravy, and mashed potatoes, he ate the bite.

  “Do you like it?”

  “Oh my, yes. This is heavenly.”

  “Good, because I got you a present.” Margo stood up and walked over to the tree to retrieve a package.

  “Me?” he asked, surprise in his eyes.

  “Merry Christmas, Sheriff,” she said as she handed over the wrapped box with a little drawing of Santa Claus waving up from the paper.

  Eagerly, he ripped into the package, pulling the box flaps open and peering inside. “Oh, my. You remembered,” he said, lifting the bottle of Christmas Peppers from the box.

  “I’ve also included the gift box of our specialty sauces.”

  “I couldn’t have asked for a better present,” he praised her. “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  “I think he likes it, Mom,” Sandra winked at Margo.

  “Like I always say, most men love their hot sauces.”

  Author’s Note

  I’d love to hear your thoughts on my books, the storylines, and anything else that you’d like to comment on—reader feedback is very important to me. My contact information, along with some other helpful links, is listed below. If you’d like to be on my list of “folks to contact” with updates, release and sales notifications, etc.… just shoot me an email and let me know. Thanks for reading!

  Also…

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  Also by Carolyn Q. Hunter

  Diner of the Dead Series

  Book 1: The Wicked Waffle

  Book 2: Battered and Buttered Waffle

  Book 3: Sinister Strawberry Waffle

  Book 4: The Wayward Waffle

  Book 5: Pumpkin Pie Waffle

  Book 6: Turkey and Terror

  Book 7: Creepy Christmas Waffle

  Book 8: Birthday Cake Waffle

  Book 9: Spooky Sweetheart Waffle

  Book 10: Eerie Irish Waffle

  Book 11: Savory Spring Waffle

  Book 12: Benedict Waffle

  Book 13: Scary Sausage Waffle

  Book 14: Murderous Mocha Waffle

  Book 15: Red Velvet Waffle

  Book 16: High Steaks Murder

  Book 17: Hole In One Waffle

  Book 18: Fireworks and Waffles

  Book 19: Games, Ghouls and Waffles

  Book 20: Waffling in Murder

  The Wicked Waffle Series

  Book 1:Hot Buttered Murder

  Book 2: Bacon Caramel Murder

  Book 3: Thanksgiving Waffle Murder

  Book 4: Christmas Waffle Caper

  Book 5: Buckaroo Waffle Murder

  Book 6: Wedding Waffle Murder

  Book 7: Cactus Waffle Murder

  Book 8: Zombie Waffle Murder

  Book 9: A Very Catty Murder

  Book 10: Halloween Waffle Murder

  Pies and Pages Series

  Book 1: Killer Apple Pie

  Book 2: Killer Chocolate Pie

  Book 3: Killer Halloween Pie

  Book 4: Killer Thanksgiving Pie

  Book 5: Killer Christmas Pie

  Book 6: Killer Caramel Pie

  Book 7: Killer Cocoa Pie

  Book 8: Shamrock Pie Murder

  Book 9: Killer Easter Pie

  Book 10: Killer Cheesecake Tart

  Book 11: Summer Smore Murder

  Book 12: Maple Nut Murder

  Book 13: Tea, Thyme, and Murder

  Book 14: A Harvest of Murder

  Book 15: Perfectly Pumpkin Killer

  Dead-End Drive-In Series

  Book 1: Sisterly Screams

  Book 2: Moans, Mummies and Murder

  Book 3: Blue Eyed Doll

  Book 4: Movies and Murder

  The Cracked Mirror Series

  Book 1: The Biker and The Boogeyman