Football is Murder (Bee's Bakehouse Cozy Mysteries Book 4) (Bee's Bakehouse Mysteries) Read Online Free Page A

she knew now where she’d seen him before. She shivered and got up to check the doors and windows were locked. She hoped she wouldn’t see that black SUV in the driveway across the street.
     

Chapter 4
    “Jessie, please tell me that’s not the smell of burning sugar.”
    Jessie started and stared down at the pot in front of her. The pot she was supposed to be stirring. Instead, it was bubbling unattended and the sugar was beginning to burn. She didn’t know how she hadn’t noticed the smell. She pulled it off the stove and rushed to the sink, dumping the whole thing inside. She knew from past experience that there was no point in even trying to get the congealed mess out of the bottom.
    “I’ll replace the pot,” she sighed.
    “We’ll be short on caramel for the cupcakes now,” Bee said, hands on hips. “Honestly, Jessie. I don’t know what’s gotten into you today.”
    Jessie shook her head. She had tossed and turned all night, unable to sleep. Every time she drifted off, she jerked away convinced she was in danger. Now she felt delirious.
    “Any sign of the chief today?” she asked.
    Bee pursed her lips. “I spoke to him first thing. The poor man has been dragged right into this mess over in Rockfield. The media got their hands on the story. Honestly. I don’t know how they can live with themselves. Charles says that far from helping, the media involvement just makes their job more difficult by stoking fear in the community.”
    Jessie bit her lip and wondered if that was what had happened to her. Was she being paranoid? Did that explain her behavior the night before where she, a grown woman of thirty-seven, had been frightened out of her wits and had kept her bedside lamp on all night?
    Bee’s eyes narrowed. “What’s up with you, girl? You’re acting weirdly.”
    Jessie shook her head. As much as she didn’t want to gossip, she also didn’t want to spend another sleepless night wondering about how dangerous her neighbor really was.
    She sighed. “You’re going to think I’m crazy.”
    Bee rolled her eyes. “ Think ? I already know that for a fact.”
    Jessie couldn’t help but smile. There was something about Bee’s gruff honesty that always made her feel better, no matter the problem at hand.
    “Okay,” she said, leaning on the counter. “You know how Chief Daly is investigating this murder? Of that football player over in Rockfield?”
    Aunt Bee nodded.
    “Well, Roger used to support that team. When I saw Johnny Cooper on the news last night, I recognized him. Roger used to watch football all the time. I guess some of it went in even though I paid very little attention. Anyway, there was something niggling me about my new neighbor.”
    “The handsome one?”
    Jessie shivered. She had long since stopped thinking of him in that way. “The one who ignored me the other day, yes. Aunt Bee, I was right. I realized it last night. He was a team mate of Johnny Cooper’s. I’m certain of it. I recognized him from when Roger used to watch Ravens games.”
    Aunt Bee frowned. “What are you saying, Jessie?”
    Jessie shook her head. She wasn’t sure exactly what she was saying. It didn’t help that she’d slept poorly two nights in a row. “The night before last, I fell asleep on the couch after you left. I was so tired from the move.”
    Bee looked non-plussed—Jessie told herself to hurry up and get to the point.
    “I woke up at two in the morning because Toby was barking like crazy.” She leaned closer, even though it was only the two of them in the kitchen. “Aunt Bee, it was my new neighbor’s headlights that woke him. At two in the morning. Then Toby woke again at four. I looked out just in time to see his taillights go off.”
    Bee frowned. “What are you saying, Jessie?”
    Jessie shrugged. “I don’t know. But it’s been bugging me. There’s nothing to do around here at that time.”
    “There are those bars in Rockfield and Glenvale. They stay open all