Beachfront Bakery: A Murderous Macaron by Fiona Grace

Author:Fiona Grace [Grace, Fiona]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Fiona Grace
Published: 2021-01-21T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Ali crossed her small open-plan living room with a foreboding sense of trepidation. She mentally prepared herself to see Detective Elton and Detective Callahan on the doorstep. She even heard the husky voice of the female detective in her head, saying, “Ali Sweet, we are arresting you on suspicion of wrongful death…”

She took a deep breath and opened the door.

Bright sunlight streamed in, making Ali squint against the glare. The backlit figure on the doorstep was in silhouette, their features obscured. But Ali didn’t need to see their face to immediately recognize who it was.

“Delaney?” she cried, reaching for her friend and wrapping her in an embrace of utter relief. “Boy, am I happy to see you!”

“Good to see you too,” came Delaney’s somewhat bemused voice in her ear, mixing with the buzzing beat of her workout music. “You okay?”

Ali released her. “I am now,” she said, breathlessly. “But what are you doing here?”

Delaney removed her ear buds. “I’m here for our morning coffee date,” she said simply.

Ali was always pleased to see Delaney, but at this moment she was struck by just how incredibly kind and thoughtful her new friend really was. Ali couldn’t think of a single person back in LA who’d show up for her like this, and she was filled with gratitude to have found such an amazing friend in her new town.

“I figured we’d be having it here instead of at the bakery,” Delaney continued. “Since it’s a crime scene and all.” She hesitated. “Or am I intruding?”

“Never!” Ali exclaimed, pulling the door even wider as a gesture of invitation. “You’re never intruding. Get your booty in here!”

Delaney chuckled and trotted inside, bouncing on the toes of her sneakers.

“Oh hey, is that my shirt?” Delaney asked, pointing at the mustard yellow silk dress Ali had slung over the back of a dining chair last night.

“Yes,” Ali said, feeling a spike of guilt for having taken liberties with her friend’s clothes (albeit at Teddy’s insistence). Then, remembering how it would now smell of perfume, she hurriedly added, “I still need to wash it!”

Too late. Delaney had already picked up the shirt-dress and began shoving it into her deceptively spacious fanny pack.

“Don’t worry about that,” Delaney said, with an air of flippancy, before pausing, frowning, and sniffing the air.

Ali tensed. She expected her friend to ask her why exactly it now smelled of date-night perfume. But before she did, she was distracted by something else.

“Oh cool—what’s all this?” she said, heading for the kitchenette.

Delaney was always on the go, always on the move, and Ali found it hard to keep up with her sometimes. She could be a bit of a whirlwind.

Ali realized it was the doughy Willow Bay boardwalk creation that had distracted her friend.

“I’m doing a crime scene reenactment,” she explained.

She was struck by sudden inspiration. Delaney had had a unique vantage point during Brandon’s boardwalk rampage. She might have seen something, some evidence that exonerated Piper somehow. Ali felt suddenly buoyed knowing she had someone to bounce ideas off of.

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