Page 26 of Toxic Apple Turnovers

“Would you consider turning in your gun and taking up a desk job?”

Before he can answer, Cormack chops her arm right through us as if we were a couple of seventh graders caught making out under the bleachers.

“Music finished five minutes ago.” Her blonde locks fall haphazardly over her eyes as if Everett just gave her a good shakedown. “I believe Essex is looking for you.” She scowls over at me a moment, and I do believe it’s the first time Cormack has ever looked threatened by me.

I pull back, and spot Everett chatting it up with none other than Chrissy himself.

“Would you look at that? He sure does move fast,” I muse.

“I’ll say,” Cormack purrs as she straightens her gown.

I choose to ignore her as I glide right over to the front where Everett and Chrissy are yucking it up as if they were old buddies.

“Lemon.” Everett pulls me in, and his arm warms my shoulders. “I’d like you to meet Christopher Castaneda.”

The dark-haired gentleman has a squiggly smile bouncing over his lips. “Judge Baxter sentenced me to three months of community service about four years ago. He didn’t remember me, but I sure as heck remember this guy. Turned my whole life around. My community service was doing cleanup by the oil refinery up north. I ended up making nice with the grounds manager, and now many moons later, I’m a manager myself.”

“Wow,” I say, genuinely impressed. “You really did turn your life around.”

“Judge Baxter has that effect on people.” Chrissy slaps him on the shoulder. “He’s a good guy. You’re a lucky woman, Mrs. Baxter—or the future Mrs. Baxter. I happened to be at your engagement party.”

Mrs. Baxter.

It does have a nice ring to it.

Everett leans in. “It’s a shame what happened to the wedding planner. Any idea what went on that night?”

Chrissy glances to the ceiling before casting his gaze to the ground and scratching the back of his neck. “I don’t know.” His voice is threadbare. “Amanda was a beautiful woman. Full of life. She had everything going for her, and it kills me that someone saw fit to snuff the life out of her.” He looks up with a fire in his eyes. “If I find out who did this, there might just be another murder to contend with.”

“You really cared about her, didn’t you?” I ask as I wrap my arms around Everett.

“I did. And I don’t get it. She didn’t have an enemy in the world.”

“What about her friends? Connie? Janelle?” It’s that second name I’m hoping will trigger something in him. Connie seemed determined to hand-feed her to us.

“Janelle is a cool girl. But Connie? She and Amanda were oil and water. That relationship was all about saving face.”

“What?” I stumble forward. I don’t want to miss a word. “But I thought she and Connie got along great.” At least Connie made it seem that way.

“They did.” He pauses as he looks from Everett to me. “That is, until Amanda snatched Mark Russo right from under Connie’s nose.”

I suck in a sharp breath and give Everett’s waist the death squeeze in the process. Connie is a Canelli, and everyone in their right mind who knows anything about the Canellis knows they shouldn’t do anything at all to enrage a single member of that crooked clan, Connie included.

“That’s shocking.” I try to play it off as if maybe it wasn’t.

“It sure is,” Everett adds. “Especially knowing that the Canellis are generally feared around these parts.”

He shakes his head. “Amanda didn’t have the common sense to fear them. She started seeing Mark on the heels of a hot and heavy relationship with Jimmy Canelli.”

I happen to know that Jimmy is one of the aforementioned Canelli brothers.

My mouth falls open. “You mean to tell me that Amanda had the cookies to dump Jimmy and steal Connie’s boyfriend? That doesn’t sound like the Amanda I knew.” Not that I knew her all that well, but still.

Chrissy’s brows hike up into his forehead. “That doesn’t sound like the Amanda I knew, but she did it.”

Everett nods. “How did you know her?”

“Met her on a dating app. She dumped me right after I introduced her to Jimmy. Jimmy and I grew up together.”