Always Room for Cupcakes (Cupcakes 1)

When he slid inside me, staring into my eyes as his finger gently traced my lips, my eyes filled with tears. It was beautiful, he was beautiful, and I felt myself falling for this sexy, dangerous man, who offered me comfort and safety in a way no one else in my life ever had.

We didn’t rush, instead relishing the feeling of being joined. Loving every movement, every sigh, every touch.

Reveling in the fact that we were alive.

“Thanks for coming over so quickly,” I said to Carmen as I opened my door and let her inside.

I’d been back in my apartment for three days. My kids were home, and we were working on getting back to normal. The first time we’d parked in the lot and walked inside, I’d watched as my kids looked warily to the place where they’d seen me snatched, but luckily, they didn’t seem to be afraid to be back in our home.

“Are you kidding?” Carmen asked, bounding inside. “I was so excited to get your call that I sped the whole way here. I’m lucky I didn’t get a ticket.”

I chuckled at her exuberance I shut the door behind her.

“We can go in the living room or the dining room, whichever you’d prefer.”

“Living room works,” Carmen said, not waiting for me to show her around, instead moving down the hall on her own.

“Would you like something to drink?”

“Water would be great,” she called back as she disappeared around the corner. “Great sofa.”

Still chuckling, I got us both waters and met her in the living room, where she was already setting her stuff out on the coffee table and sitting on my couch as if she’d been over a million times before.

I sat down in the chair adjacent to the couch, watching as she laid out a notebook, pen, pencil, old-school recording device, and smart phone, all in a neat little row in front of her.

I placed her water in front of her and she promptly moved it to the right of her phone, a little bit above her neat row.

She must have noticed my little smile because she shrugged and said unapologetically, “OCD.”

“So, how should we do this?” I asked, a little nervous.

“Just start at the beginning and tell me everything as if you’re telling me a story. I’ll record it and take notes, so that I don’t leave anything out, and when I write it I’ll make sure to hit all of the important points.”

“Okay,” I replied, taking a sip of my water, then a deep breath, before telling her everything.

From the cokehead to Hector, to the Coke Club and everything I’d overheard them say and do. I told her all about Moose, the case, and Carlos, and I gave her a thumb drive with copies of all of the pictures I’d taken that pertained to the case. She took down information about Bea and Cade, and said she’d try to get them to corroborate my story, but I warned her that Cade probably wouldn’t be very forthcoming.

I’d spoken to Bea and the Coke Club had been arrested, Moose’s body had been taken to the morgue, and they were searching for Hector and Carlos, but so far, no luck.

Bea wasn’t thrilled that I was speaking with the media, but I promised to only speak with Carmen and that I’d ask Carmen to run the piece by her before going to print, just to make sure it wouldn’t hinder the investigation in any way.

“This is going to be awesome,” Carmen gushed when I finished. “You truly are a town hero, Lila, and I cannot wait to let everyone know it.” Then her grin turned wicked. “I’m honored that you and Bea trust me with this, and I really look forward to exposing all of those women who thought they could make extra money by becoming drug dealers. What a bunch of assholes.”

I burst out laughing, surprised, but finding that I really liked Carmen Santos.

“What are you going to do now?” she asked, piling all of her things back into her killer handbag.

“I’m not sure yet,” I replied honestly. “With Moose gone I don’t have a job anymore. I love working with Amy May at the bakery, but it’s just part time, which won’t pay the bills … I’ll come up with something, I guess.”

“Well,” Carmen said, her eyes on me as she rose and pulled the strap of her purse over her shoulder. “I think, with Moose gone, there’s going to be a real need for a new PI in town.”

“Yeah,” I agreed. He was the only one in three counties, after all.

She looked pointedly at me … then I got it.

“Oh. What? Me? I’m not a PI. I’m not even qualified to do that.”

“What do you need to do to be qualified?”