Mists of the Past: A Darcy Sweet Cozy Mystery, #2

By K.J. Emrick

Darcy Sweet isn't what you would call a girly girl. She almost never wears makeup and loves nothing more than to wear a well worn pair of jeans, a t-shirt and her most comfortable pair of sneakers. So she felt a little strange as she prepared for her first official date with her new cop boyfriend. They were going to have a quiet romantic dinner in a nice restaurant.

 

There was nothing to worry about, right?

 

Wrong!

 

Darcy should have known that even a date wasn't immune to the other side when she had a vision during the date.

 

And worse still it was a vision about her new boyfriend. What did she really know about him anyway?

 

He was a cop, yes, but that didn't mean he was squeaky clean if the vision was anything to go by.

 

Making a hasty exit out the rear of the restaurant she hurries home only to have him follow her. She lies about why she left, feigning sickness but she could tell he didn't believe her.

 

Not able to ignore the vision, Darcy delves into it further as she tries to avoid him, hoping to find a reasonable explanation for what she saw. The more she finds out the more she worries that he may not be the nice guy everyone thinks that he is.

 

Could he really be a killer?

• Language: English
• Publisher: South Coast Publishing
• Release date: Dec 11, 2013
• ISBN: 9781497786455

Book preview

CHAPTER 1

Humming softly to herself Darcy Sweet carefully turned the pieces of chicken that were sizzling in the pan on her stove. She swept a bit of her dark hair back over her ear and smiled. The scent of the delicious herbs and spices they were coated in wafted up and she sniffed at the air appreciably.

Her eyes drifted towards the window. Looking out she could just barely see the neighboring house in the distance. It had been standing empty ever since her neighbor Anna Louis had been murdered just a month ago. Darcy had found her body. Then she endured the whole traumatic experience of bringing the murderer to justice.

Things like that happened in Darcy’s life. She attracted trouble.

Darcy sighed. She supposed that the house would go on the market soon and be sold. The thought of it made her very sad. Of course, she hoped that her new neighbors would be nice and that she would like them. Life moved on. In this instance, she could hope it wasn’t so, however.

She felt something nudging her leg and looked down to find Smudge, her black and white tomcat, rubbing up against her.

Sorry Smudge old fellow, she spoke to the cat like he could understand her, you can’t have any of this chicken. It’s for someone else. The cat gave her an offended look before turning and prancing away. Darcy smiled. He understood more than most people gave him credit for.

Wow that smells really amazing. Darcy’s boyfriend, Jon Tinker, entered the room and came over to her. He grabbed her around the waist and planted a kiss on her cheek. She leaned back against his chest as he rested his chin on the top of her head. I didn’t realize you were such a great cook back when I agreed to go out with you.

She wrapped her arms around his neck. Well, I guess we haven’t really known each other that long have we? And what do you mean, you agreed to date me? You were the one who asked me, Mister Police Detective.

He smiled at her with that special look he had just for her. All those events that had taken her good friend Anna from her and turned the town upside down last month had brought her and Jon together, as well. Jeff, her ex-husband, had been murdered also just days after Anna. It hadn’t been a real great time for Darcy. But Jon had been there for her. Once she had gotten past the tough police exterior, anyway.

No, Jon agreed with her. I don’t think I’ve had enough time with you. Definitely not. But we’re going to make up for that now. She lost herself in his deep blue eyes and almost missed when he leaned over and tried to snag a piece of chicken.

Slapping his hand away she said, Uh, uh. Not yet. You don’t get to taste it until it’s ready. Could you set the table please? She smiled sweetly at him and he pretended to pout as he went to do what she’d asked. He knew where everything was in her house now, and flawlessly set out two plates, forks and knives and napkins and then glasses of water. When dinner was ready, she brought it to the table and they sat down to eat.

He took his first bite and made sure to let her see his eyes roll back with a little smile. She laughed at him, but appreciated the way he enjoyed the meal. The rice and apple side dish had been her great-aunt’s recipe. After a few moments of silent eating, she brought up what had been weighing on her mind. I was thinking about Anna as I was cooking the meal.

Jon looked at her for a long moment, chewing and swallowing his bite of food. The events of last month had been hard on her, and she knew it. She had lost a good friend and an ex-husband. Not to mention the small moment in time when she was almost killed by the murderer, who turned out to be a friend.

There are no updates about Steve and Jess, Jon finally said to her. She knew he shouldn’t even be telling her this much. It was a sign of how much he cared. Their case is going to trial soon and after that we’ll know more. Although it looks as though Jess may not have to go to trial thanks to her cooperating with us like she did.

Darcy started to twirl the delicate antique ring on her finger that had belonged to her great aunt Millie. Outside of the bookstore that she operated in town, and this house that had been gifted to her by Millie, the ring was the greatest memento she had of a woman who had been so important in her life. Twirling the ring was a habit she had whenever she got stressed or anxious. And right now thinking about the events of the previous month was definitely making her anxious.

Steve Nelson, Misty Hollow’s mayor at the time, and Jess O’Connor had been having an affair. Jess had worked at the bank, and the two of them had been skimming money from the council funds. Anna and Jeff, Darcy’s friend and her ex-husband, had both worked out what was going on and Steve had killed them. When Darcy had stumbled onto evidence of what was going on, Steve had tried to silence her, too, and Jon had saved her. With Smudge’s help, of course. They were both in jail now awaiting their fate.

Feeling Jon’s eyes upon her frantic ring twirling, she abruptly stopped and jumped up out of her chair. Sorry, I sort of zoned out there for a moment, Darcy said. She started to clear the table and kept her back to Jon as she wiped the tear from the corner of her eye. She dumped the dirty dishes in the sink, set the leftover chicken and rice into a container, and as she turned back to the table she found Jon standing there watching her. He had such a serious look on his face. When she tried to speak and couldn’t find the words he pulled her into his arms and lowered his head to kiss her instead. It was a sweet, gentle kiss.

Pulling back he looked her in the eyes and said, I love you Darcy.

She caught her breath at his words. Somehow it washed all the pain and bad memories away. I love you too, Jon.

She’d known for a while now that she loved him. And in her heart, she had known that he loved her, too. He’d never said it before, though. Not before now.

He always knew just the right thing to say. Darcy was so glad that she’d found him.

The next morning Darcy was in such a great mood as she walked to work at the Sweet Read Bookstore. She had a definite spring in her step as she walked through the center of town. She waved happily to a couple of people she knew at the door to the book store, flipping the sign from ‘CLOSED, THE END’ to ‘OPEN a good book today’.

Darcy went behind the counter to get things ready for the day. Sometime later the bell over the door jangled loudly and someone burst through the door. Darcy looked up to see her single employee Sue Fisher rushing in wearing a tight pair of jeans and a flattering red blouse, her blonde hair whirling around her shoulders.

Sorry I’m late, she said by way of apology. But I did bring coffee. She lifted a couple of cups up to eye level and Darcy smiled.

Darcy knew full well why Sue was late. The woman was only twenty, a college student, and Darcy was lucky to have her as an assistant while she was taking a break from her law degree for a