Chocolate Heart Killer: A Pumpkin Hollow Mystery, book 14 Read online

  Chocolate Heart Killer

  A Pumpkin Hollow Mystery

  By

  Kathleen Suzette

  Copyright © 2019 by Kathleen Suzette. All rights reserved. This book is a work of fiction. All names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination, or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronically or mechanical, without permission in writing from the author or publisher.

  Books by Kathleen Suzette:

  A Home Economics Mystery Series

  Appliqued to Death

  A Home Economics Mystery, book 1

  A Rainey Daye Cozy Mystery Series

  Clam Chowder and a Murder

  A Rainey Daye Cozy Mystery, book 1

  A Short Stack and a Murder

  A Rainey Daye Cozy Mystery, book 2

  Cherry Pie and a Murder

  A Rainey Daye Cozy Mystery, book 3

  Barbecue and a Murder

  A Rainey Daye Cozy Mystery, book 4

  Birthday Cake and a Murder

  A Rainey Daye Cozy Mystery, book 5

  Hot Cider and a Murder

  A Rainey Daye Cozy Mystery, book 6

  Roast Turkey and a Murder

  A Rainey Daye Cozy Mystery, book 7

  Gingerbread and a Murder

  A Rainey Daye Cozy Mystery, book 8

  Fish Fry and a Murder

  A Rainey Daye Cozy Mystery, book 9

  Cupcakes and a Murder

  A Rainey Daye Cozy Mystery, book 10

  A Pumpkin Hollow Mystery Series

  Candy Coated Murder

  A Pumpkin Hollow Mystery, book 1

  Murderously Sweet

  A Pumpkin Hollow Mystery, book 2

  Chocolate Covered Murder

  A Pumpkin Hollow Mystery, book 3

  Death and Sweets

  A Pumpkin Hollow Mystery, book 4

  Sugared Demise

  A Pumpkin Hollow Mystery, book 5

  Confectionately Dead

  A Pumpkin Hollow Mystery, book 6

  Hard Candy and a Killer

  A Pumpkin Hollow Mystery, book 7

  Candy Kisses and a Killer

  A Pumpkin Hollow Mystery, book 8

  Terminal Taffy

  A Pumpkin Hollow Mystery, book 9

  Fudgy Fatality

  A Pumpkin Hollow Mystery, book 10

  Truffled Murder

  A Pumpkin Hollow Mystery, book 11

  Caramel Murder

  A Pumpkin Hollow Mystery, book 12

  Peppermint Fudge Killer

  A Pumpkin Hollow Mystery, book 13

  Chocolate Heart Killer

  A Pumpkin Hollow Mystery, book 14

  A Freshly Baked Cozy Mystery Series

  Apple Pie A La Murder,

  A Freshly Baked Cozy Mystery, Book 1

  Trick or Treat and Murder,

  A Freshly Baked Cozy Mystery, Book 2

  Thankfully Dead

  A Freshly Baked Cozy Mystery, Book 3

  Candy Cane Killer

  A Freshly Baked Cozy Mystery, Book 4

  Ice Cold Murder

  A Freshly Baked Cozy Mystery, Book 5

  Love is Murder

  A Freshly Baked Cozy Mystery, Book 6

  Strawberry Surprise Killer

  A Freshly Baked Cozy Mystery, Book 7

  A Gracie Williams Mystery Series

  Pushing Up Daisies in Arizona,

  A Gracie Williams Mystery, Book 1

  Kicked the Bucket in Arizona,

  A Gracie Williams Mystery, Book 2

  Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Author’s Note

  Chapter One

  The alarm went off, and I groaned. It was early. Much too early for anyone in their right mind to be awake. And then I remembered. Ethan and I were going snowboarding. It was late January, and the snow had been unrelenting over the past two weeks or so with it finally stopping the previous morning. The last thing I wanted to do was climb out of my warm bed and go out into the cold. I groaned again and considered staying put. But I reminded myself that I had to get up. Ethan had been looking forward to this day and I wasn’t going to disappoint him.

  My cat, Boo, began purring and gave my arm a soft headbutt. I opened one eye and reached over and scratched his ear. “Good morning, Boo,” I mumbled. “You’re awfully perky this morning. I can’t imagine why, it’s 4:30 and far too early to be perky, let alone awake.” Boo was completely black, and in honor of the Halloween theme of Pumpkin Hollow, his name seemed appropriate.

  With another groan, I tossed the blankets back and sat up on the side of the bed. After a few seconds of giving myself a pep talk, I forced myself up and out of bed and got dressed. I had never gone snowboarding before, but Ethan assured me I would be a natural. I thought he was out of his mind, but I didn’t say it. He wanted me to come along with him and I wanted to spend time with him.

  At 5:30 there was a light tapping on my front door. “Good morning, Sunshine,” Ethan said brightly when I opened it. He was wearing the leather jacket I bought him for Christmas and a black knit hat. He was far too perky for this time of day.

  “I don’t know why you’re so chipper,” I grumbled.

  He chuckled and followed me back into the house. “You sure are grumpy in the morning. Did your mother ever tell you that?”

  I nodded and headed back to the kitchen. I had been in the middle of making coffee when he knocked. “She did tell me, but I always ignored her when she brought it up. Would you like a cup of coffee?”

  “Sure,” he said and came over and gave me a kiss. “I’m really shocked and hurt that you didn’t kiss me first thing.” He looked at me, eyebrows raised.

  I grinned and kissed him again. “I don’t know what I was thinking. Must be because I’m not completely awake yet. So, how far up into the mountains are we going?”

  He shrugged. “Depends on the snow. I have a special place up there that I like for snowboarding, but it’s not far. Maybe about half an hour away, and if the snow looks good, that’s where we’ll go.”

  “With all the snow we’ve gotten recently, I can’t imagine it not being deep enough.” I turned and got two travel mugs out of the cupboard.

  “I’m sure it will be fine,” he said and went to the refrigerator and pulled out the creamer. He held it up, eyeing it. “You still have Christmas flavored creamer?”

  I nodded. “I stocked up. My favorite peppermint mochas aren’t going to disappear with the Christmas flavored creamers. At least, not for a while anyway.”

  He looked in the refrigerator again. I had four peppermint mocha creamers and three eggnog. “Smart thinking,” he said. “I hoarded some of your mother’s peppermint fudge with the idea that I’d have some for a while, but as you can imagine, it’s all gone.” He grinned.

  I chuckled and poured coffee into both mugs. “Knowing y
ou, I would imagine that’s been gone for a while.”

  He looked at me sheepishly. “Okay, maybe it has been gone for a while. But I did stock up, and that means I’ve eaten an awful lot of fudge the past couple of weeks. Good intentions, you know.”

  I shook my head. “I don’t know what I’m going to do with you.”

  Boo wandered into the kitchen and rubbed up against Ethan’s leg. “Hey there, Boo.” He squatted down and ran a hand across Boo’s back.

  “He misses you,” I said, trying to make him feel guilty. Ethan had been working longer hours recently and hadn’t had as much time as he normally did to come over and hang out.

  “I miss him, too,” he said and scratched him under his chin. “I need to bring Licorice over for a play date.”

  “Oh? You only miss Boo?” I turned and gave him the eye. Licorice was his own black cat and she and Boo sometimes didn’t see eye to eye on things.

  He chuckled. “No, I miss my girlfriend, too,” he said straightening up, and then poured creamer into his coffee cup.

  “Girlfriend? Wait a minute, Buster. I recently got a serious upgrade in relationship status.”

  He chuckled and shook his head. “Oh, yes. I almost forgot. You’re my fiancée now. How could I have forgotten?”

  I held my hand in front of him and wiggled my fingers, reminding him of the ring he had given me. “I can’t imagine how you could have forgotten something like that.” I had gotten a proposal and a pretty diamond ring for Christmas and I was still surprised and thrilled about it.

  He took a sip of his coffee. “The payment on that ring will remind me every month.”

  I chuckled and poured creamer into my cup. “You shouldn’t have bought such a nice ring. I would have been thrilled with a simple gold band with a tiny diamond chip in it.”

  “A diamond chip would never do for the woman I love.” He pulled me to him and hugged me tight, almost making me spill the creamer.

  I rested in his arms a moment and closed my eyes. Sometimes it was still hard for me to believe that I had someone like Ethan in my life. It felt like I had waited forever for him.

  After a minute of standing there, he looked down at me. “Wait a minute, you’re not going back to sleep, are you?”

  I smiled without opening my eyes. “I might be.”

  He held me at arm’s length. “Wake up. We’ve got lots to do today. I don’t want to miss one minute of this day. I don’t have to work, and I’m going to make the most of it.”

  I opened my eyes and laughed. “All right then, let’s get a move on. The snow isn’t going to last forever.”

  “Oh I think it will,” he said as we picked up our coffees and headed for the front door.

  “Oh, wait a minute, I didn’t feed Boo.” I trotted back to the kitchen and poured some dry food into his bowl and scratched his ear. “I’ll see you tonight, buddy.”

  The morning air was brisk, and I pulled my knit hat down low over my ears and buttoned up my coat. I wasn’t much on the great outdoors, but I did enjoy it sometimes. This was going to be my day to enjoy it, regardless of how cold and tired I was. I was going to get to spend the day with Ethan and nothing could ruin that.

  “Brrr,” Ethan said. “It’s cold out here.”

  The snow crunched beneath our feet and I followed him across the street to his truck, glancing around the neighborhood. “I think we’re out of our minds for doing this.” The morning sky was still dark, and I shivered.

  He chuckled, and we got into the truck. “We’re going to have fun today.” He reached over and squeezed my gloved hand.

  I turned to him. “I know we are. I’ll try to keep the whining and complaining to a minimum, but I can’t make any promises.”

  He chuckled and started the truck. “You can whine and complain all you want. I feel like it’s been forever since we got to do something fun together.”

  “I agree,” I said and fastened my seatbelt. “When we get married, we can spend every minute together that we aren’t at work. Right now, I’ll take what I can get.”

  He pulled away from the curb. “I guess that’s what we’ll have to settle for. You know, we’ll have to set a date pretty soon. How about June?”

  He was right. Christmas Eve he had asked me to marry him, but we hadn’t set a date. A June wedding was nice, but I wasn’t sure that was what I wanted. There was a part of me that wanted to get married during the Halloween season. It somehow seemed fitting.

  “June? I don’t know. It feels a little cliché. Everyone gets married in June. Oh, wait a minute. We can’t get married in June,” I said, thinking about it. “Amanda’s baby is going to be born in June and she will not appreciate being extremely pregnant and walking down the aisle. She’s going to be my maid of honor, you know. And besides, what if she went into labor during our wedding?”

  “Amanda’s your maid of honor? What about Christy?” He glanced at me.

  “I’ll have two maids of honor. I could never choose between them.” I took a sip of my coffee. I couldn’t choose between my best friend and my sister and having two maids of honor seemed like the solution. “How about a Halloween themed wedding? How does that sound?”

  He chuckled and looked over at me. “Are you serious?” There weren’t many cars out on the streets at this hour as we drove down the street and the neighborhood was quiet.

  I shrugged. “I really don’t know if I am. But it’s kind of fun to think about.”

  “So does that mean you’re going to wear an orange wedding dress?”

  I turned and looked at him wide-eyed. “No! I’m not going to wear an orange wedding dress. Although,” I said thinking about it. “It certainly would be different. But I’m pretty sure I’m going to go with traditional white.”

  “I see,” he said. “I guess we could just have a few orange details here and there. A Jack-o’-lantern or two on the reception tables?”

  I nodded. “I can always have Christy and Amanda wear orange dresses.”

  He laughed. “I bet they’d appreciate that.”

  I shrugged. “Why not? I bet if we found just the right shade of orange, they would be pretty.”

  “I guess if they’re okay with it, why not?”

  I really didn’t know if I wanted my bridesmaids to wear orange or not, but the idea appealed to me. If I could find the right shade of orange, that is.

  Chapter Two

  I took another sip of my coffee and settled into my seat as Ethan drove. The morning sky was getting lighter and the sun would soon make an appearance on the horizon. I love the snow, but not the cold. Or at least, I love the snow until a day or two after Christmas. Since it was now nearly the end of January, the snow was wearing out its welcome. I would be glad when spring rolled around.

  We had ridden in silence for a few minutes when Ethan turned toward me. “What about a venue for the wedding? Where are we going to get married?”

  I chuckled. “Well aren’t you getting all excited about the wedding?”

  He nodded and grinned. “Why not? Why shouldn’t I be? I’m going to be marrying the only woman I’ve ever truly loved, and I have every right to be excited about it.”

  I smiled and shook my head. “You’re something else. I thought most guys didn’t care anything about the actual wedding?”

  “I’m a modern man. What can I say?”

  “Well, Mr. Modern Man,” I said and took another sip of my coffee. “We’ll have to figure out all the details. There will be a million of them. I had better get a notebook to keep track of everything.”

  He raised one eyebrow, looking at me again. “I guess we can have the reception at the ballroom, can’t we?”

  I glanced at him and chuckled. “Aren’t you afraid of ghosts?”

  He looked at me. “Ghosts? What are you talking about? What ghosts?”

  I chuckled again. “Ellie Adams and Josh Tate. It’s been just over a year since they died in that ballroom. Don’t you think they might still be hanging around?”
<
br />   He laughed. “No, I don’t think they’re hanging around. I don’t believe in that kind of thing. Don’t tell me you do?”

  I shook my head. “No, I was just teasing you. I’m quite certain that the two of them have gone on to wherever it is they were going.”

  He chuckled and nodded. “What about the ballroom? It’s a nice place for a reception.”

  “We’ll see. How’s that for an answer? We still have plenty of time to figure it out.”

  We turned onto the highway and it was clear. The snowplows had been through and done their work, and I was glad. I hated driving in snow, and I avoided it whenever possible.

  “My mother is working on a raspberry white chocolate fudge. Just in case you were wondering,” I said, glancing at him. I worked at our family owned candy store, along with my sister and mother. Since starting a website to sell candy, business had picked up tremendously and my mother was always working on new recipes.

  “Oh, your mother is a genius. Is the new flavor for Valentine’s Day?” he asked.

  I nodded. “Yes, we’ve already started selling it online. I know she has a couple of other tasty items she’s been working on, too.”

  “Well she had better get a move on,” he said. “Valentines Day will be here in a few weeks. Speaking of Valentine’s Day, is there anything in particular you want to do that day?”

  I shrugged, thinking it over. “Anything is fine. We can go to dinner, or we can make something at home and curl up in front of the fireplace.”

  He thought about this a moment. “How about a nice fancy dinner? We rarely go anyplace fancy and it might be nice to do that.”

  “You don’t have to argue with me about it then,” I agreed. “Let’s do it. Let’s find a fancy place and dress up. We might be too late, though. I bet the nicer restaurants will already be booked up.”

  “I’ll get right on it when we get home this afternoon,” he said.

  We drove in silence for a few minutes. There was something about driving down the highway, just the two of us, that I liked. Even when we weren’t talking, there was a comfortable silence that I cherished. I glanced at Ethan. The heater was blowing full blast, and he had taken off his knit hat. He’d recently gotten his blond hair cut and his profile was neat and clean. He had been a cute boy when we were in school, and he had grown into a handsome man. And best of all, he was mine. I smiled. I wanted our wedding to be special. Something we would look back on with happiness for years to come.