Chapter 15
Angel woke the next morning, the warm body that held her through the night was gone and she sat up suddenly, wondering if she dreamed the whole evening. Hearing Monty’s voice coming from the living room had her smiling as she lay back down. Stretching her sore muscles, she luxuriated in the feeling of her first full night’s sleep in a long time. Rising from the bed, she moved into the bathroom, brushing her teeth and taking care of business before strolling back out into the bedroom. Bending, she snagged his dress shirt from the previous night off the floor and pulled it on. Buttoning only enough buttons to keep it on her body she moved confidently into her living room.
“Hey sweetie, who was on the phone?” she inquired, stopping dead in her tracks. A tall, dark-haired man was standing with Monty by her front door. His eyes roved slowly from her pink toenails up to her untamed colorful hair, as he grinned from ear to ear making him even more attractive.
“Oh,” she said, grabbing the sides of Monty’s shirt and pulling them closed while hoping the large shirt covered her ass.
“Angel, meet a fellow Saint and good friend, Chad,” Monty said, moving toward her. Tucking her body into his side, he glanced down to make sure she was covered.
Nodding in greeting and appreciation, Chad chuckled. “Nice to meet you, Ms. Cartwright. I’m sorry to barge in. We needed to have a meeting this morning and Monty wasn’t answering his phone.”
“Did you leave it in the restaurant?” she asked, looking up at Monty’s face.
“Uh…no. It was on the stairs. It fell out of my pocket…along with your shoes and other clothes.”
“Oh…uh…Oh!” she stammered, blushing from her neck to her forehead remembering the trail of clothes that started from her front door and led up the stairs to her apartment.
Chad laughed as he turned to head back out the door. “I hope to see you again, Ms. Cartwright. Monty, see you in about an hour.”
As they watched Chad leave, Angel turned to bury her face in Monty’s chest. “That was mortifying!”
“While I wouldn’t want you to make an appearance like that to all my friends, if it had to happen, Chad’s a good man.”
“I’d like to meet your friends sometime,” she said, leaning her head back to look into his face.
“And so you shall,” he replied easily. “In fact, as soon as we get a break in this case and get another night off, I’ll take you to Chuck’s Bar & Grille. It’s kind of a Saints hangout.”
“Why did Jack name his business the Saints?”
Monty stared over her head for a moment before answering. “The name meant something to him long before he even went into the military. Actually, all the other employees have names that mean something to them as far as actual Saints go.”
She watched his face, wondering what his thoughts were. “And you? Does it mean anything to you?”
“Afraid not. I’m not named after a Saint. My name was given to me for family purposes. I suppose my parents hoped I would live up to my name, but I always thought it was pretentious. Montgomery Honor Lytton.”
“Honor? That is an unusual name,” she agreed, her eyes widening.
“Yep. My grandfather was a mayor and I got saddled with his name.”
A slow smile crept across Angel’s face as though a secret had just been shared with her. He looked at her with curiosity, but she simply shook her head with the smile still in place. “We’d better get dressed if you’ve got to go to your meeting and I’ve got to get downstairs to the bakery.”
Kissing the top of her head, he sent her to the shower first, knowing if he joined her he would never make his meeting on time.
*
Chuckling, the Saints looked at Mitch in disbelief. “You have got to be kidding me?” Monty asked, not sure if the news Mitch was delivering was good or not.
Mitch nodded, unable to hold back a grin, said, “It’s true. The man has been identified and, believe me, he’s not about to press charges against Angel for pulling a gun on him.”
Rubbing his forehead, the beginnings of a headache starting to pound, he looked up. “So some guy from Richland comes to Charlestown, wearing a fuckin’ disguise, just to pick up women in bars because he’s married and doesn’t want his wife to find out?”
“Yep, that’s about it,” Mitch said. “And before you ask, he’s got an alibi for the time of night Marcia was killed. The hotel’s bartender saw the man come from the elevator and into the bar about midnight. Had a drink and then left. The security cameras inside show him leaving alone. Marcia was seen leaving the hotel about thirty minutes later.”
“How do we know he didn’t meet her somewhere else and kill her then? Maybe she threatened to tell his wife.”
“We have a statement from a PI, who’s been following him. Seems his wife had hired a PI firm and so we know he was tailed until he got back home. He didn’t meet up with Marcia again.”
“So, what the fuck was he still doing out prowling with Angel nights later if his wife is having him tailed?” Monty growled.
“The PI was just starting the job and the husband’s got no idea he’s being followed.”
“Soooo…,” Bart started, an enormous grin on his face. “Our intrepid cupcake baker…goes undercover…as herself since she made no effort to hide her hair…goes back to a hotel with…and pulls a gun on…a disguised husband who’s in town to get some on the side.” Leaning back in his chair, he looked over at Monty and chuckled. “Your woman is totally kick-ass, man. I love it!”
“Bet that guy was shittin’ bricks when he ran outta there!” Marc laughed, throwing his head back as his mirth joined the others. “God, I wish I’d seen that!”
“That’ll teach the cheating bastard to keep it in his pants,” Chad agreed.
Monty shook his head again, saying, “Un-fuckin’-believable. I don’t know if I’m more relieved that who she was with wasn’t a killer or upset knowing we’re down a possible suspect.”
After a few more minutes of joking, the Saints settled back down to continue the investigation. Monty asked Cam if he had found out anything from the cleaning service from Marcia’s condo.
“Yeah, I interviewed the staff that serviced her apartment. Said they were initially contracted to work in the Colonial Financial Group offices and they still provide the service. The manager admitted that Ms. Creston was picky about how she wanted things cleaned. They had been cleaning her condo for about four months every now and again, did a thorough job each and every time. When I asked if they would have wiped down the mantle, furniture, knick-knacks, they said yes. Mentioned she was a neat-freak, as he called it, and they cleaned all surfaces each time.”
“I need to have you and Bart visit Colonial Financial sometime and see if there’s anything there we can use.”
Once more, Bart and Cam grinned at each other. “This’ll be good,” Cam commented. “More of a challenge than her home was.”
“We’ve got a lot of dots here, but so far nothing that’s tying them together,” Monty added. He pointed their attention to the large screen on the wall as he listed and manipulated the evidence. His FBI agent days were too ingrained. Placing all the pieces of the puzzle up on a board for him to ponder was his preferred method.
“Theresa Constantine died from an automobile accident. We now know her brakes were tampered with and her boyfriend, Geoffrey Daly, was hoping for money from an insurance policy. That gives him motive and opportunity. We also know she had some investments with Colonial Financial. And she was a close friend to Marcia Creston.”
Moving down his timeline list, he continued, “A month later, Marcia Creston is murdered, possibly by someone who picked her up at a bar. She had a list of enemies, mostly from the people she worked with…or stepped on. If these two murders are connected, right now the connecting dots are Colonial Financial…or just the sorority.”
“The sorority?” Blaise asked. “Someone who’s got it out for the members of a sorority that graduated from college about five years ago?”
“Just throwing it out there,” Monty replied. “Never dismiss possibilities when all you’ve got is clues leading to nowhere.”
*
Angel pulled out more trays from the back and set them on the large counter. Helen came from the shop to collect them so she could place them in the rapidly diminishing stock on the shelves out front.
“I swear, with some of the snow gone, people are coming in droves for a sweet treat,” Helen proclaimed.
“Good!” Angel grinned. “Let’s hope they keep coming in here!”
“You been looking at the new location anymore?”
Nodding, Angel replied. “It’s embarrassing how many times a week I drive by. I love this location, but I know the one several blocks over will be better. More traffic—”
She halted, seeing Helen’s raised eyebrow. “I know, I know, we’re busy enough here, but I really need more kitchen space for the larger catering parties. Now that some weddings have cupcakes instead of traditional cakes, I need the larger kitchen.”
She stood, chewing the inside of her cheek for a second then looked up to see Helen’s questioning gaze. “I was just thinking…well, last night someone said that I should expand and open more bakeries, like a chain.”
“And what do you think?”
“I like being just me. You know, just in charge of this one bakery. If I opened up more, I couldn’t be at both at the same time. I’d end up hiring baking chefs to create my recipes and I’d just become a manager/owner.”
“How does that make you feel?”
“Honestly? Horrified! Not that I don’t think I have the business background to do it. Running my business that way just holds no interest for me.”
“So don’t you have the answer?”
“Yeah, but—”
“Who put this cockamamie idea in your head, anyway? Surely it’s not that nice young investigator you’ve been seeing?”
“Oh, no. Monty’s…” Angel’s thoughts trailed off, a smile replacing the look of consternation on her face.
Laughing, Helen responded, “Hmm, by the expression on your face, I’d say there’s no problem there!”
“We ran into his parents last night at dinner. They’re kind of…um…stuffy, and his mom said I should expand and possibly franchise. I told her that wasn’t in my plans…and it’s not, but…”
“But what?” Helen asked, her hands on her hips.
“I really like him, Helen. I haven’t felt this way about someone in…well, in forever! It would be nice if his parents like me too, but I have a feeling I’m not at all the type of woman they would like to see their son with. A simple bakery owner.”
“Who just happens to bake the most kick-ass cupcakes in Virginia!” Helen retorted. She stepped closer to Angel, taking her hands in her own. “Girl, I’ve known you for five years. And you are no simple baker. You are the dominating force behind Angel’s Cupcake Heaven. If this is your destiny, then anyone who wants you to be something different isn’t worth having around!”
Steeling her back, Angel smiled at her friend. “You’re right. This is where I’m supposed to be. Well, here and then the new location when we get the go ahead to move!”
“Good girl. Now let’s move the cupcakes out into the shop before pandemonium strikes because of empty shelves!”
An hour later, the mid-afternoon crowd had thinned and Angel walked back from the kitchen to make sure the eatery was spotless. A lovely dark-haired woman entered the shop, two children in tow. While the children ran to the glass cases to select their treat, Angel noticed the woman seemed to be staring at her, a secret smile on her face.
“Mom, mom! Look at these!” came the excited voice from the little girl. The woman’s attention was diverted as she walked over to the cases and leaned down to gaze through the glass at the confection creations.
Angel walked over to the trio, smiling at the little girl. She noticed the boy tried not to show his enthusiasm for the treats, but ACH cupcakes were hard for anyone to resist. The girl stared up, her attention now on Angel’s hair.
“Mom! That lady has pretty colors in her hair! She looks like a cupcake!”
The woman blushed slightly and tried to steer her daughter’s attention back to the case of sweets. Glancing over, she said, “I assume you’re Angel?”
“Yes,” Angel smiled back. “And you are?”
The woman stood and lifted her hand out to Angel. “I’m Felicity. Felicity Darwin.”
Angel’s mind raced quickly, trying to figure out when she had met the lovely woman, but came up empty. “Have you been here before?”
“Yes, but we’ve never been introduced—”
“We got your cupcakes for my birthday party!” the little girl yelled, her excitement boiling over.
“Chrissy! Use your inside voice, please,” Felicity chastised.
“Mom, that is her inside voice,” the boy said, smirking at his sister.
The woman turned back to Angel, shrugging her shoulders. “I should have made this trip in by myself to meet you,” she joked.
Angel bent down to Chrissy and asked, “Did you like the cupcakes at your party?”
“Oh, yes. They had the same colors that are in your hair. And we made Uncle Monty eat one. He hates to get messy, but he ate every bit and then had pink and purple all over his mouth!”
At that pronouncement, Angel rose and looked at the smiling woman carefully. Of course! Now I see the family resemblance. Oh, lordy. Is she here to check me out also?
Before she could worry too much, Felicity grabbed her hand and pulled her in for a hug. “I am so glad to meet you, Angel. You are so good for my brother!”
Surprised, Angel returned the heartfelt hug. Stepping back, she said, “I’m glad you think so. I really…um…” She hesitated as her gaze drifted back down to the children.
“Don’t worry about them,” Felicity said. She pointed out two cupcakes to Helen, who got the treats for the children. “Guys, let’s settle down. You two sit at this table and I’ll be over here with Miss Angel.”
Angel sat, curiosity overriding her anxiety. Felicity shrugged out of her coat and sat after settling her children at a neighboring table.
“I’m sure you have to be wondering why I dropped in today, but I just had to. My mother called this morning to tell me that she and dad ran into you and Monty at dinner last night.” Seeing the tightness of Angel’s smile, she rushed on. “Oh, believe me, you made a great impression on dad. He used to be such a hard-ass, but I think he’s finally getting to the point where he knows I’ll never be a college professor and Monty’ll never be a lawyer or judge.”
Angel’s smile relaxed slightly as she watched Felicity’s animated expressions as she talked about her family.
“Anyway, mom said she was surprised to see the two of you together and mentioned she even witnessed a public kiss. Well, I knew then I had to come meet you in person! Any woman who can make my stick-in-the-mud brother relax enough to share a public kiss…well, you had to be someone wonderful!”
Angel burst out laughing at Felicity’s description of Monty. The blush crossing her face as she thought about Monty being anything but a stick-in-the-mud when they were in the throes of ecstasy had her bringing her hands to her face.
Felicity noticed and, leaning back with a satisfied expression on her face, nodded. “And it seems there’s more to you and my brother than I thought. So,” she said, glancing back to her children at the next table and lowering her voice, “I take it you two are an item?”
“Um…yes. I mean…um…yes,” Angel stammered.
“Halleluiah!” Felicity exclaimed. “It’s about time he fell for a real woman instead of dating those stick-thin, always dieting, high maintenance types that remind me more of mom than someone he really should be with!”
Laughing again, Angel could not help but love Monty’s sister. “Thank you for that. I have to confess after meeting your parents with Claire last night—”
“Claire? She was there too? Ugh,” Felicity commented. “I only met her once and I got the distinct impression she was one of mom’s attempts to sway Monty to give up investigating. Something he’d never do.” Giggling, she added, “Plus the one time I met her, I had both my rug-rats with me. We’d just come out of an ice-cream parlor and ran into she and Monty leaving a restaurant. I thought she would die before greeting my children who both had melting ice cream on their hands!”
Angel and Felicity looked at the table next to them at the two kids with pink, purple, and teal icing on their lips and cheeks. The women laughed, sharing a look, as they hopped up to assist in cleaning the children’s faces.
“Okay, you little monsters. Grab your coats. We’ve got to get home to fix dinner before your dad comes home.”
As the trio was leaving the shop, Felicity turned back to Angel offering another warm hug. “It was nice to meet you and,” she added, wiggling her eyebrows, “if my brother can keep his hands off you for long enough, you two will have to come for dinner!”
“I’d love that!” Angel enthused.
Turning back to the kitchen, she saw Helen smiling at her. Finally, things seem to be looking up!