Fudge Brownies & Murder - Culinary Competition Mystery #4

Chapter 22

(Amy)

Amy took a deep breath of the incense-scented air. It was a special blend that Rori always burned, meant for calming frayed nerves and stressed bodies. Amy had a stash of the herbal incense cones at home, but she could only burn them when she was alone because they made Alex sneeze. It had definitely been a stressful week between sneaking supplies for the baby shower past Carla while she channeled her husband and grilled them about what was in the bags and boxes to worrying over what the birth would be like. Amy had promised to help and provide moral support, but she didn't do well with blood. Carla said that aspect was unavoidable in a birth. Ugh. The experience could tip her one way or the other as she tightrope walked the fence between having or not having a child herself.

When Amy told Shepler about what happened at Shantelle's apartment, he agreed to have another officer check Harlan out. There had been a string of unsolved thefts in the area over the past month. Someone was breaking into vacant rental properties and under-construction homes, stealing everything from appliances to power tools. If the scary fake brainiac was thrown in jail because he was committing the thefts, Shantelle would be safe. Listening to the heavily-tattooed woman's life story as she went through the admission process at the shelter had tugged at Amy's heart. It was no wonder why her life was a smoking-hot mess. Parentless by the time she was ten, courtesy of both horrible role-model parents being sent to prison.

So the drop-in yoga class would be the perfect antidote to the serenity destroying things invading Amy's life. There were three other women already in the classroom when she walked in. As she slipped off her shoes and stowed them in one of the storage cubes, the sounds of a heated argument slipped through the open doorway. Nervous looks bounced back and forth between the other women. Amy tugged on the bottom hem of her T-shirt. Whatever was happening didn't sound good.

"I need to go fill up my water bottle," Amy said as she grabbed the glass bottle out of her tote bag. Luckily it was encased in an insulating sleeve, so no one could see it was already full of water. The women, clustered together in the far corner, looked at her as if she was insane to leave the safety of the wood-floored studio. She slowly opened the door, stepped outside, and shut it behind herself.

In the hallway, the words of the argument were clearer. One voice she recognized as Rori's. The other sounded familiar, but Amy couldn't quite place it.

"Stay away from my boyfriend," yelled the unidentified woman.

Amy took a few steps closer to the partially open door of Rori's office at the end of the hall. "As far as I know, Thad has his own free will," Rori responded at a volume she never used in a yoga class. "He can have a relationship with whomever he wants."

"I've been dating him for three months. He's mine!"

The decibel level of the indignant screech stopped Amy in front of the hot yoga room. She rested her hand on the door's glass. It was as hot as the argument that she wasn't sure if it would be wise to interrupt. It seemed to be getting out of hand. Would it move beyond just words? She never thought serene Rori could get so angry, but there were two sides to every pancake. One side could look perfect while the other had craters and scorch marks.

"Men aren't necklaces. They aren't a possession," was Rori's reasoning. It was a very good point. Hard to argue with. Amy took a couple more steps closer to the office door.

But the other woman decided to take on the task of disputing the pretty solid bit of wisdom. "He's mine! If you care about your life, you had better stay away from him."

The door flew open. Amy realized why the threatening voice sounded so familiar. Candi Edwards marched out of the room. Anger flared in her brown eyes when her gaze locked onto Amy, who was only a few feet away. Her dark curls rippled and swirled as she stomped out of the office. Amy imagined her hair was a kinetic energy-powered weapon...killed by a lethal zap of static electricity.