Read Online Buttercream Murder: A Frosted Love Cozy Mystery - Book 7 (Frosted Love Cozy Mysteries) by Carol Durand, Summer Prescott - Free Book Online
Authors: Carol Durand, Summer Prescott
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foot while simultaneously delivering a right hook straight to his tender parts and screamed, “Run Echo!”
Completely blindsided, the intruder dropped to a crouch, howling in pain and following the women surprisingly quickly considering his injuries. Missy and Echo ran for the front door as fast as they could, bursting through it and onto the porch, nearly mowing down Chas Beckett and most of the LaChance Police Department.
“Keep going, head for my car,” Chas barked as the friends stumbled past him and police swarmed into Missy’s home. There were brief sounds of a scuffle as LaChance’s finest took down a man who was wanted for murder and more in multiple states, and the women who had unwittingly helped them capture him huddled terrified in the back of Beckett’s patrol car.
When they saw the intruder being led out of the house in handcuffs, the look on Echo’s face spoke volumes. “They finally caught the sorry S.O.B.,” she spat bitterly. “He’s haunted my nightmares for years, and he’ll finally pay the price.”
Missy knew that there must be quite a story regarding her friend and the dry goods deliveryman, but for the moment she kept her questions to herself, knowing that it would all come out in the end.
Chapter 13
When Chas returned to his car, he drove Missy and Echo down to the police station to wrap up some loose ends.
“How did you know Jimmy Cronister?” the detective asked Echo, recording her answers.
“Jimmy was a drug-runner for the jet-set crowd that I ran with in L.A.,” she replied dully. She had tried so hard to put her troubled past behind her, but it had caught up with her yet again.
“Did Cronister ever kill anyone that you know of?”
“I never saw him kill anyone, but there were lots of rumors, and he used to brag about how good it felt to see the life drain out of people and animals,” she gagged slightly at the last part.
“He grew up on a farm and moved to California as a teenager, is that right?”
“That’s the story that I heard,” she replied wearily.
“Do you know what type of farm?”
“They raised livestock. Cows, chickens, goats, sheep, pigs.”
“Did you ever have reason to believe that Mr. Cronister was a danger to you, personally?”
Echo nodded, her eyes welling with tears.
Chas leaned forward, filled with compassion. “Echo, I’m sorry, but for the sake of the recording, can you please give your answers audibly?”
“Yes, I knew that Jimmy wanted to kill me. He was one of the main reasons that I left California,” she explained, ashamed.
“Why did he want to kill you?”
“My ex-boyfriend owed him money and skipped town, so he held me captive and told me that he’d forgive the debt if I slept with him. I pretended to go along with the plan, but when Jimmy got naked and vulnerable, I kicked him where it counted and escaped. He screamed that he was going to kill me if it was the last thing he did, but I got away. I changed my name back to the one that my parents had given me, shaved off all of my hair and bought a shabby wardrobe from a second-hand store to try to disguise myself. I found the most obscure little town that I could and started my life over. And here we are.”
Echo had begun to cry about halfway through her story, and by the end of it, she was so choked up that she could barely speak. Missy shot a glance at Chas, and he ended the session, letting the distraught woman know that they had all they needed from her. She hurried from the room and leaned against the bathroom sink, splashing water in her face to calm down.
“Chas, how on earth did you find us?” she asked. “If you had been only a few minutes later, it could’ve been too late.”
“Oh, I don’t know, you seemed to take pretty darn good care of yourself when the occasion warranted it,” he smiled proudly at her. “We traced Jimmy’s cell phone to your house and had it surrounded before he ever turned on the light switch.”
“Is he the one who
Completely blindsided, the intruder dropped to a crouch, howling in pain and following the women surprisingly quickly considering his injuries. Missy and Echo ran for the front door as fast as they could, bursting through it and onto the porch, nearly mowing down Chas Beckett and most of the LaChance Police Department.
“Keep going, head for my car,” Chas barked as the friends stumbled past him and police swarmed into Missy’s home. There were brief sounds of a scuffle as LaChance’s finest took down a man who was wanted for murder and more in multiple states, and the women who had unwittingly helped them capture him huddled terrified in the back of Beckett’s patrol car.
When they saw the intruder being led out of the house in handcuffs, the look on Echo’s face spoke volumes. “They finally caught the sorry S.O.B.,” she spat bitterly. “He’s haunted my nightmares for years, and he’ll finally pay the price.”
Missy knew that there must be quite a story regarding her friend and the dry goods deliveryman, but for the moment she kept her questions to herself, knowing that it would all come out in the end.
Chapter 13
When Chas returned to his car, he drove Missy and Echo down to the police station to wrap up some loose ends.
“How did you know Jimmy Cronister?” the detective asked Echo, recording her answers.
“Jimmy was a drug-runner for the jet-set crowd that I ran with in L.A.,” she replied dully. She had tried so hard to put her troubled past behind her, but it had caught up with her yet again.
“Did Cronister ever kill anyone that you know of?”
“I never saw him kill anyone, but there were lots of rumors, and he used to brag about how good it felt to see the life drain out of people and animals,” she gagged slightly at the last part.
“He grew up on a farm and moved to California as a teenager, is that right?”
“That’s the story that I heard,” she replied wearily.
“Do you know what type of farm?”
“They raised livestock. Cows, chickens, goats, sheep, pigs.”
“Did you ever have reason to believe that Mr. Cronister was a danger to you, personally?”
Echo nodded, her eyes welling with tears.
Chas leaned forward, filled with compassion. “Echo, I’m sorry, but for the sake of the recording, can you please give your answers audibly?”
“Yes, I knew that Jimmy wanted to kill me. He was one of the main reasons that I left California,” she explained, ashamed.
“Why did he want to kill you?”
“My ex-boyfriend owed him money and skipped town, so he held me captive and told me that he’d forgive the debt if I slept with him. I pretended to go along with the plan, but when Jimmy got naked and vulnerable, I kicked him where it counted and escaped. He screamed that he was going to kill me if it was the last thing he did, but I got away. I changed my name back to the one that my parents had given me, shaved off all of my hair and bought a shabby wardrobe from a second-hand store to try to disguise myself. I found the most obscure little town that I could and started my life over. And here we are.”
Echo had begun to cry about halfway through her story, and by the end of it, she was so choked up that she could barely speak. Missy shot a glance at Chas, and he ended the session, letting the distraught woman know that they had all they needed from her. She hurried from the room and leaned against the bathroom sink, splashing water in her face to calm down.
“Chas, how on earth did you find us?” she asked. “If you had been only a few minutes later, it could’ve been too late.”
“Oh, I don’t know, you seemed to take pretty darn good care of yourself when the occasion warranted it,” he smiled proudly at her. “We traced Jimmy’s cell phone to your house and had it surrounded before he ever turned on the light switch.”
“Is he the one who
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