Page 14 of Donut Disaster
Pastor Gaines says a polite goodnight, and as he bows toward them, the mouth of his zipper yawns open.
“Oh no.” I bury my face in the first chest to my left—the way I should have the first time—and judging by the unfamiliar scent of the cologne, I’m almost afraid to look up.
“Hey, Lottie.” Alex grins down at me.
Mom blows kisses to us all. “Oh, and Forest? You might want to check on the second bedroom off the stairs. I think I left some sage burning on the dresser.”
Forest’s firefighting skills kick in and he bolts past us so fast you’d think he garnered the ability to fly while he was away.
I’m betting he and Lainey flew to the moon and beyond, sensually speaking. I looked up the Sugar Bowl Resort online—their honeymoon destination—and it looks perfectly romantic.
Lainey looks as if she’s ready to maim or kill before she softens just a notch. “So, what’s happened while I was away?” Her eyes flit to mine.
Meg wraps an arm around Lainey. “Lottie found another body—some doctor I’ve never heard of. Call me in the morning. We’ll have breakfast at the bakery.”
Hook lifts a hand our way. “Alex, I meant what I said. We need to get together and talk shop!”
That’s right. Hook used to be a bigwig investor on Wall Street and Alex is an investment banker.
“Dinner,” Hook shouts as Meg pulls him down the porch.
Alex gives a wistful shake of the head. “I’m in.”
“A body?” Lainey does not look amused. “You didn’t happen to stumble on your latest corpse while taking a stroll through my house, did you?”
“Nope.” I give her a quick embrace myself. “I’m glad you’re home. Get in there and enjoy your new house and your new husband.”
“All right.” She gives me a soft peck on the cheek before saying goodnight to us all and heading inside.
Noah steps up, his serious eyes meeting with mine. “I just got a little news about Morgan. It turns out, he was shot with his own gun.”
“What?” My hand presses to my chest. “You don’t think he hurt himself, do you?”
“No way.” Alex shakes his head. “I just spent the last few days at his place. He was in great spirits. And, believe me, judging by the way he had a different girl swing by throughout the week, he was in great shape, too.”
My mouth falls open. “That’s more than I wanted to know.” I look to Noah and catch his lips twisting the way they do when he’s withholding something from me. “You know something else. Spill it, Fox.”
Noah glances to Everett. “Okay, but this doesn’t leave the porch. They found methylenedioxymethamphetamine in his system. MDMA” He shakes his head as if he were puzzled. “It’s a street drug commonly known as Ecstasy or Molly. Addictions to it are rife across the country. But the dose Morgan took was pretty intense, and in this case akin to a lethal injection. That stuff is no joke at any dose.”
Everett gives a slow blink. “So this wasn’t a homicide? Why would the killer give him an injection and then shoot him with his own gun? It doesn’t make sense.”
Noah shakes his head. “It doesn’t. Does it? I guess he could have become disoriented after the injection and reached for his gun and shot himself. But there’s still a chance this was a homicide, and until I can confirm otherwise—I’m treating it as such.”
My heart drums up in my chest. “How can you be so sure?”
“We couldn’t find the needle. We found the sight of the injection. It had already begun to bruise. It was delivered in the back of his arm, a position not natural for addicts—for anyone to choose on their own. He had no other traces of ever having another injection. I find it hard to believe he chose that night to administer a fatal dose at an odd angle. There are just too many what-ifs and I don’t care for what-ifs. Morgan was my friend.” He looks to Everett. “Our friend. And I’m going to give this the due diligence it deserves. If there’s a killer, I’m going to find them.”
“We”—I interject—“we’re going to find them.” I shrug up at him and he sheds the beginnings of a smile as if acquiescing to the idea.
We head for our cars, and Alex nods me to the side a moment. There’s a mournful smile on his lips, one I recognize because I’ve seen it more often than not on his brother’s face.
“I’m sure you realize this, but Noah is crazy about you.” He offers a sympathetic nod.
“I do realize that.” My heart breaks that he’s hurting and especially that his brother has taken note of it. I wouldn’t blame him if he hated the sight of me. “I never set out to—”
He shakes his head. “Noah told me all the gory details. And for the record, I consider Everett every bit my brother, too. They’re both great guys. You’re caught between a rock and a hard place. Whatever you decide, I’m going to cheer you on. But if you can do me a favor, go easy on Noah. He’s tough stuff on the outside because that’s what the world expects from a big, bad homicide detective—but he’s tender where it counts and I know he’s got a tender spot for you.”
“Will do.”