A Very Cozy Halloween: Eight Exciting Cozy Mysteries by unknow

Author:unknow
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Cozies, American Cozies, Amateur Investigator, Mysteries, Anthology (multiple authors), Paranormal Cozy, Short Stories, Halloween
Publisher: Summer Prescott Books
Published: 2021-09-22T22:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER FOUR

The party was just beginning when she arrived, half of the guests were not even there yet. Deidre greeted her with a hug, then followed her over to the snack table to look at what Erin had brought. She seemed impressed with the finger pretzel sticks. “Those are wonderfully creepy,” she said. “Take a look at my cupcakes.”

The cupcakes were red velvet with icing painstakingly formed in the shape of a heart. A real, human heart, not a Valentine’s Day one. Remembering what Deidre had said, Erin knew that there was a blood red filling inside.

“I love those,” Erin said. “Want to trade recipes later?”

Deidre grinned. “Definitely.”

“I love your costume, by the way.”

Instead of going for creepy, Deidre had gone for pretty; she was Glenda, the Good Witch from The Wizard of Oz.

“Thanks. I love yours too. The Grudge?”

“Yep. I wish we were doing a costume contest this year.”

“I don’t think the Jacobsons wanted to deal with it,” Deidre said with a laugh. “Come on, there’s someone you might want to say hi to. Remember Jeb?

Erin wouldn’t have been able to place the name at all if she hadn’t just seen it on the back of the photograph a few days ago. “You mean that guy who was friends with my dad?”

“Yeah. He got out of prison just a couple days ago.”

“He was in prison?”

Deidre opened her mouth, then frowned. “That’s right. You probably wouldn’t have heard. It happened just the day after your parents’ deaths. He was drinking and driving in a stolen car and ended up running right into the mayor’s house and broke his wife’s arm. A reporter managed to track down the old mayor a couple days ago and did an interview with him. The accident was big news at the time, and the reporter wanted to follow up on how the old mayor and his family were doing now and how they felt about Jeb getting out, I guess.”

“I see.” She frowned over at the man Deidre indicated. “He was pretty close with Dad, wasn’t he? Do you think the news of my parents’ deaths had something to do with why he was being so reckless that day?”

“Could be,” Deidre said. “It doesn’t excuse what he did, but he’s done his time. He could probably use a welcome back to the neighborhood. From what I heard, he’s living with his parents temporarily. I’m the one who invited him to the party. You don’t have to say hi to him, but it might be nice.”

Erin nodded and followed Deidre over. The other woman fell back as they approached, leaving her to introduce herself. “Hello,” she said once Jeb noticed her. He was dressed in a tuxedo that was a bit too small for him — maybe he was going for James Bond? She wasn’t sure. “I’m Erin Foster. I think you knew my parents?”

He jolted and looked at her more closely, then he nodded, his face clearing slightly.

“You were, what, twelve, last time I saw you?” He gave her a weak smile.

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