Wedlock Cake Murder (A Maple Hills Cozy Mystery Book 12) Read online

  “Tom admitted he was here with someone,” Nikki said. “We should get a warrant to look at their security tapes.”

  “Maybe,” Hawk answered. “I still think it was just a prostitute, though.” Nikki sighed and followed Hawk to his car. They drove back toward Maple Hills. It was getting late.

  “Can you drop me at my house, please?” Nikki asked Hawk. “Tori closed the shop so we should be there by dinnertime.”

  “Sure,” Hawk replied. “I am going to go to my office and get some of these notes filed. I want to start a warrant to check into Jim’s finances also.”

  “Okay,” Nikki said. Hawk put his arm around Nikki, and she snuggled next to him for the ride back to Maple Hills.

  When they arrived back at Nikki’s place, Hawk dropped her off and Nikki went into her house. The chief, Seth, and Tori were there. Seth had made clam chowder and salad. Nikki dug in and filled the chief in on what they had found out. The chief was happy that Hawk was getting a warrant to look into Jim’s finances.

  “I had hoped he had changed his ways,” the chief said. “We will see soon enough.”

  “I hate to say it, but with all this running around, we might have to consider postponing the wedding. We are no closer to finding out who killed Luke,” Nikki said.

  “I actually agree. I am afraid this is getting to be too much for you,” the chief said. “If you need to postpone the wedding, I will support you.” Nikki was happy to have his support. She decided to see how the next day went before making a decision.

  They ate dinner and Tori filled Nikki in on the day’s business. They had a few new customers at the chocolate shop. Tori’s designer chocolate marketing campaign was working. Nikki just hoped she could live up to the reputation. Nikki was glad she had Tori and Lidia to handle the shop while she was helping Hawk. Tori and Seth seemed closer than ever, and Nikki was happy about that. After dinner Nikki told everyone she was going back to the shop to work on the cake. The wedding day was fast approaching, and if Nikki did not postpone the wedding, she wanted to make sure the cake was good to go. Nikki and Seth cleared the table while the chief and Tori took care of the dishes.

  “You have been running around all day,” Seth told Nikki as he grabbed some plates. “Are you sure you want to go back into town? It is getting dark, and I don’t want you stressing out.”

  “Getting some work done on the cake will actually help me relieve some of this stress,” Nikki told Seth. Seth told Nikki he understood. They took the plates and bowls into the kitchen. Nikki helped dry the dishes and put them away. Once everything was set, Nikki announced she was leaving.

  Tori said she would stay with Seth and the chief until Nikki got back. Nikki thanked her and she let them know that Hawk should be there soon. Nikki put her jacket on, grabbed her purse, and went outside. She waved to the police officers keeping watch and they waved back. Nikki was glad there was a police presence besides Seth at the house. Everything had been quiet, but Nikki would not rest until Luke’s killer was caught. She was proud of how much Seth had grown since moving to Maple Hills. He was enjoying his job, and Nikki knew he was a good police officer. Nikki unlocked her car. She tossed her cell phone and purse onto the driver’s seat and sat down. Nikki turned on the car and drove toward town.

  The road to town was winding and had a few sharp turns and drop-offs on the shoulder. Nikki was always cautious when driving to town. She did not want to hit a deer or be hit by anything. The night was cloudless, and Nikki had a good view of the road ahead. Nikki noticed a car behind her. Nikki tensed up but realized It was following along at a reasonable distance. Nikki relaxed and turned on the radio. She drove another mile.

  Suddenly the inside of Nikki’s car grew brighter as the car behind her sped up. Nikki was coming to a turn, so she slowed down. If you want to pass that badly go ahead, but do it before the turn, Nikki thought. All of a sudden Nikki heard the other car’s engine revving. Nikki felt a large bump that made her let go of the steering wheel. She felt her car moving toward the side of the road. On the other side of the shoulder was a ravine. Nikki grabbed the steering wheel and tried to steer away from the shoulder, but she felt another bump. Her stomach lurched as her car flew off the side of the road. Nikki screamed as the car flew through the air. The car landed in the ravine and she was knocked unconscious.

  Chapter Eleven

  When Nikki came to, everything seemed wrong. The inside of the car was dark, and Nikki’s head hurt. It took a few minutes for her to realize she was upside down. The car had landed on its roof. Nikki’s airbag had deployed and was in her face and pinning her arms to her sides. Her seatbelt was still on and she was hanging down. Her hair was in her face and her head was pushing against the top of the car. The roof of the car was on the ground, and Nikki was hanging above it. Nikki started to panic. Before she went crazy, she closed her eyes and thought for a moment. She took a few deep breaths. She was dizzy, and her ankle was throbbing. She was scared that she had broken it. Nikki tried to take her seatbelt off, but it did not budge. Before Nikki could begin to panic for real, she took some deep, slow breaths and calmed down.

  Nikki felt hot and she grew concerned that there was a fire nearby. Then she remembered she had a knife in her pocket. Nikki had to wedge her hand around the airbag to get it into her front pocket. After a few seconds Nikki felt the edge of her pocket. She tried to jam her fingers in it but, since she was upside down, it took a bit of wiggling. She got her fingers into her pocket and felt her knife. She carefully pulled it out of her pocket. Nikki knew if the knife slipped out of her fingers she would be stuck where she was until someone found her. Nikki got her fingers around the pocketknife and gently tugged it free from her jeans. It did not drop, and Nikki breathed a sigh of relief. She maneuvered her hand close to her face and pulled the pocketknife open with her teeth. She punctured the air bag and it deflated, leaving Nikki with a view out of her shattered windshield. Nikki was happy to see that her headlights were on. She felt in her pocket for her cell phone, but it wasn’t there. She tried to disengage the seatbelt again, but it was wedged into the door.

  After what seemed like an hour, Nikki was able to cut herself out of her seatbelt. Her body fell down and Nikki screamed in pain. She tried to open the door, but it would not budge. She felt warmer and she started to panic. She took a deep breath and looked up. Both airbags had deployed. Nikki punctured the other bag and, when it had deflated, she opened her glove compartment. Nikki kept a window-shattering tool in her glove compartment, and it fell next to her on the roof. Nikki grabbed it and used it to puncture the driver’s side window. The window shattered, and Nikki carefully shimmied out of the broken window. The impact of the collision had pushed the roof of the car down and there was not much room. Nikki moved back to the window and cleared the remaining glass out of the pane after she had gotten out and looked back inside the car. She saw her purse and her cell phone. She reached in and grabbed them and crawled backward away from the car.

  Nikki sat down and looked at her ankle. She did not see any cuts or bone, so she knew she did not have a compound fracture. Nikki realized she could see her ankle even in the dark. Nikki looked toward the car and realized there was indeed a fire, and it was spreading. She tried to use her cell phone but there was no signal. She turned on the flashlight function on her phone and looked at the car. Nikki knew she had to stand up and get moving. She looked around and saw a large stick lying nearby. She crawled over and used the stick to stand up. When she stood up, she saw flames near the back of her car.

  As Nikki was standing up, she smelled something. Nikki sniffed again and grew pale. She smelled gasoline. Nikki hobbled as fast as she could away from the car. She thought about the wedding and the cake. Nikki realized that the cake was not important. Being with Hawk was the most important thing. She almost tripped over some stones, but she maintained her balance and kept going. She could still smell the gasoline and she could feel her back getting warmer. Nikki tried to hobble faster. She threw her p
urse and hobbled after it. Nikki heard a loud bang and felt a rush of hot air hit her on the back. Nikki’s head jerked back as her body was pushed forward. Nikki fell and was knocked unconscious again.

  Chapter Twelve

  Nikki was dreaming. She and Hawk were having a campfire by the lake. Nikki watched as Hawk put another log on the fire. Nikki stood up and was reaching for Hawk when she felt herself falling backward into the fire. She woke up screaming.

  Nikki opened her eyes and tasted dirt. She spat out the dirt and tried to move her head. Her head was throbbing, and it took her a minute to remember what happened. Nikki felt stones beneath her head and neck. She remembered the wreck and got angry. She tried to remember exactly what had happened, but everything was a jumble in her head. She remembered getting out of the car and the explosion. Her back felt sore and she wondered how badly it was burned. Nikki looked toward the car. It was engulfed in flames. The blast had blown her away from the fire. Nikki had to get help. Surely someone heard the crash or saw the flames, Nikki thought. She tried to stand up but fainted from the pain.

  Nikki opened her eyes once again. Her head was banging and her whole body hurt. She looked over toward her car. The fire had lessened somewhat. Nikki sat and listened. She heard frogs and crickets above the fire but no other sounds. A minute later Nikki thought she heard a siren, but it turned out to be an owl swooping down near the fire. Nikki felt around and found her phone. She turned it on but there was no service. Nikki had hoped that someone would have noticed the fire and called 911. Since the fire was lower, Nikki knew she had been out for a while. If help had been coming it would have been here by now. Nikki felt around her head. She pulled her hand back and looked at it. There was blood all over her hand. Nikki needed to get help fast.

  Nikki had lost her stick in the fall. She used her phone to locate it. She strapped her purse on her back and slowly inched toward the stick over the rocky terrain. Nikki felt the skin on her knees tear, and she tried not to scream. She didn’t want to waste her energy screaming. Nikki got close to the stick and she reached out and grabbed ahold of it. It was a minor victory, but she felt like an Olympic gold medalist. Her head flared and she rested. She felt drowsy but she jerked her head up. Nikki knew she could not afford to fall asleep. She stuck the stick firmly on the ground and tried to use it to get into a kneeling position, but her ankle flared up and her knees were sore from the rocks. Nikki yelped and sat back down.

  She knew she had to get help soon. She took off her jacket and wrapped it tightly around her ankle. This provided a brace to keep her ankle in place. She knew she would have to grit through the pain in her knees. Slowly, Nikki was able to kneel with the help of the stick. She let herself yelp a couple of times and then took a deep breath. She tried her phone again but there was still no signal. Maybe if I stand up, it will work, Nikki thought. With that in mind, Nikki planted her foot in front of her and used the stick to maneuver into a standing position. That was when she really felt her back pain. Nikki was not sure if the pain was from burns or if she had wrenched her back.

  Nikki tried her phone again and it still did not work. Nikki realized she would need to get out of the ravine in order to get a signal. Nikki looked up. Her head and ankle throbbed. Nikki knew that right at this moment, she could sit down and go to sleep and possibly never wake up, or she could climb. Nikki chose to climb. She chose to climb for herself, for Seth, and for Hawk. Nikki would never give up. Hawk said her tenaciousness was one of her most endearing qualities. It was in that moment that Nikki knew she wanted to marry Hawk more than anything else in the whole world. She would climb up the ravine and make it down the aisle as scheduled.

  Nikki was determined to get up the ravine. She put her phone in her pocket and made sure her purse was attached. She put the stick forward and inched up to the side of the ravine. If the ravine had been clear cut, Nikki would not have stood a chance; however, it was rugged, and it rose to the road. There were footholds in the ravine and scrub bushes that Nikki could use to help in her ascent. Nikki slowly inched her way forward using her hands and the stick to keep on track. She pulled herself up carefully, losing her footing a couple of times. The last time, her stick fell back down into the ravine. Nikki was cold and it was hard to keep a grip on the bushes. She almost gave up and followed the stick back down but then she remembered Hawk and Seth. She needed to get help. Nikki would get back to Hawk and Seth if it was the last thing she did.

  “I am not dying here,” Nikki shouted.

  Her yell scared a nearby racoon and she glimpsed its mask as it ran down the ravine. Nikki ground her teeth. She took all the anger and stress she was feeling and channeled them into climbing up the last five feet.

  When she reached the top of the ravine, Nikki pulled herself over and onto the shoulder of the road. She could not kneel or stand. She lay there as a wave of dizziness overcame her. Nikki noticed some lights and thought she was getting a migraine. She realized it was an approaching car. A car was coming, and Nikki’s spirits lifted. She could not stand without the stick, but she waved her hands wildly as she lay on the asphalt. The car passed by, not even slowing down. Nikki did not give up. She reached into her jeans pocket and was relieved to feel her cell phone. She pulled out her phone and her heart gave a leap. There was a signal! Her head was pounding, and her ankle was screaming, but Nikki was able to find Hawk’s number and dial. The phone rang and Nikki was worried that it was going to go to voicemail. She felt another dizzy spell coming on. As the dizziness struck, she heard a voice.

  “Nikki, where are you?” Hawk asked. Nikki heard Hawk and tried to answer. She started to cry and then she passed out.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Nikki opened her eyes. She heard a beeping noise and saw a bright light. Nikki thought she was still on the side of the road, but the light was too bright. Maybe she was about to be hit by a car. Nikki panicked. She lurched and felt a hand on her shoulder.

  “Easy does it,” Hawk said. Nikki realized she was in the hospital. The room came into focus and she saw Hawk standing above her. She saw that she had an IV in her arm and some machines were beeping by her bed. Nikki started to cry. Hawk held her in his arms. She sobbed for a bit and then dried her tears. She was feeling completely exhausted and sore all over. Nikki looked around. The chief and Seth were in the room as well.

  “You’re going to be okay,” she heard Hawk say.

  “What happened?” Nikki asked. The chief and Seth visibly relaxed when Nikki spoke.

  “What do you remember?” Hawk asked.

  “I remember there was a car accident. I had to climb up the side of the ravine. I heard your voice and I passed out.”

  “Is that all you can remember?” Hawk asked.

  Nikki thought for a moment. “No!” she exclaimed. “Someone pushed my car off of the road. I was driving into town to go to the chocolate shop and someone hit my car. They hit it again and sent it over the edge. I woke up and I was upside down. I cut myself out of the seatbelt and deflated the airbags with my knife. I broke the driver’s side window and got out of the car. I found my cell phone but there was no signal. I tried to get up, but my ankle was sore.” She stopped. “Is my ankle broken?” she asked.

  “No,” Hawk said. “The doctor took an X-ray after they put some fluids into you. You were very dehydrated.” Nikki breathed a sigh of relief and then she continued talking.

  “I got out of the car and managed to get a large stick. I used that to help me stand up and keep my balance. When I was up, I moved a little and I smelled gas. I started to get away from the car and it exploded.” Seth winced, and Nikki stopped, feeling tears in her eyes. She continued.

  “I woke up and thought someone must have heard the crash. If they were driving by, they might see the flames. I thought help was on the way. I tried to get up, but I could not really move. I passed out again. When I woke up, I realized no one was coming. I had to find my purse and my stick. I knew I had to get up to the top of the ravine or I would be in trou
ble. I thought of you and Seth and got up. I moved slowly but was able to get to the side of the ravine. The bottom of the ravine was full of rocks and I stumbled a few times. I got to the side of the ravine and I climbed up even though it hurt, and I felt like passing out. The thought of you and Seth got me through the climb. I got to the top and fell over from pain and exhaustion. A car drove past. I tried to wave it down, but it kept on going. I pulled out my cell phone and passed out. That is all I remember,” Nikki said.

  “That is a lot to remember,” Hawk said. “Let me fill you in on what happened after you pulled your cell phone out. You called me and I knew you were in trouble. You were crying and then I did not hear anything. I kept yelling your name, but you did not respond. I knew you were in trouble. When I got to your house and you were not there, I tried calling your cell phone. It went right to voicemail. I tried calling you at the chocolate shop when I could not reach you on your cell. There was no answer at the shop, and I was starting to get worried. When you called, the chief got ahold of someone at the precinct. We used your phone’s GPS to track your location. Meanwhile, a helicopter was dispensed to your house to take me to the location. When the location pinged, I was already in the helicopter and we took off. A couple of minutes later we landed in the road near you. When I hopped out of the plane, I saw you on the side of the road and I ran to you. You were passed out. An ambulance had been deployed to the location and it arrived a few minutes later. The paramedics got to work on you, and they took you to the hospital. Meanwhile, the chopper went down into the ravine to find your car. I am sorry to say that your car is totaled, but I guess you knew that.”

  “I kind of figured I would not be driving it again.” Nikki grinned slightly. Hawk rolled his eyes and the chief and Seth laughed.