other one to hit the brew button. As the coffee began its cycle, an odd feeling came over Gemma. Over the past year, she’d learned to listen to that little voice inside her head that often indicated something was wrong. “Oh, my God. I wonder if the electricity coming back on had anything to do with the fire three doors down. I better go check on Lando.”
“Go on,” Lianne urged, shooing the owner from behind the counter. “Do what you need to do. I’ve got this covered. Want me to start making the candy, too?”
“You know, we have cherry creams leftover from Friday, probably two dozen or so. When the rain hit, I started to toss them out. Glad I didn’t. Why don’t we see if those are still any good? I kept them in the commercial fridge. But the power did go out for almost five hours. If the candy is still okay, hand them out to the customers for free as a gesture to come back tomorrow. It’ll probably take us that long to get back to normal. Then we’ll pick up making the regular flavors Tuesday morning, use today to build our stock back up. That sound like a plan?”
“Perfect. That’s why I came in to check and see how things were going. Monday’s flavor is always hazelnut. Is it okay to go with that, or do you want something else?”
“Nope, hazelnut works for now. I am working on a new creation but I haven’t finished it yet. We’ll make a batch of those truffles with the strawberry filling and glaze on top. People seem to like those after stormy weather. I’ll be back in twenty minutes to finish setting up.”
“No need to hurry. Take your time.”
As soon as Gemma stepped outside into warm sunshine, she spotted the fire trucks lined up in front of the old general store. But she didn’t see anything on fire.
Approaching the front door, she poked her head inside only to see Payce Davis wave her back. “Hey, what’s going on in here? Where’s the fire?”
As the patrol officer in charge, Payce backed her out of the old building. “The fire was in the downstairs basement. Got us a murder on a Monday morning. A body. You know old Ben Zurcher?”
“The old postmaster? Sure. Everybody knows Ben.” Gemma’s eyes widened as the news began to sink in. “You’re kidding? What was old Ben doing here in an empty shell of a building in the middle of a rainstorm?”
“Lando thinks maybe he was meeting someone, and they killed him, started a fire to cover their tracks, too.”
“The killer tried to set him on fire. Ewww. What kind of person would do that to another human being? That’s disgusting. That’s insane. How? How did he die?”
Payce pointed to the back of his head. “Gunshot wound to the head. Do you remember how old Ben was?”
“I’d say probably around seventy-four or so. Why?”
A tired Lando appeared in the doorway. “Payce, go out front and see if you can locate the medical examiner. Find out what’s taking Tuttle so long to get to the crime scene. Drag him in here if you have to. That’s an order.”
Payce gave a mock salute and started down the steps. “You want I should push him out of the interview he’s giving?”
“What?” Lando muttered, storming outside and past Gemma. He spotted Jeff Tuttle across the street huddled with Tina Ashcomb, a staff reporter from the County newspaper. “How can he be giving an interview when he hasn’t even set eyes on the victim yet? Get him over here, Payce. Now!”
Gemma found her lips curving into a smile. Watching Lando Bonner in his element always made her realize how lucky she was. She studied his dark hair, his dark eyes, the stubble on his face—and fell in love all over again.
He wore his hair longer these days, curling up just at the top of his leather bomber jacket. He wore his cowboy boots, a pair of dark indigo blue jeans, and a white button-down shirt that everyone called his Lando Bonner uniform. The outfit made him look delicious, good enough to eat for breakfast.
Tamping down one urge, she leaned over and pressed a kiss to his lips. “Bad morning?”
“Bad for Ben Zurcher. Someone shot him in the head, then rolled him up in a rug and tried to set it on fire. The carpeting didn’t burn much.” He lowered his voice and pulled her back into the building. “I found a