Free Deadly Pumpkin Slice (A Sinful Sweets Cozy Mystery) by Carol Lee

was opening. Somehow they managed to sneak out of the door before any lights were turned on. They crouched below the window and crawled along the side of the house, out of view from anyone inside.
     
    “What now?” Sydney whispered.
     
    “We have to get back to your car before they see us.”
     
    Sydney had parked two blocks down, but she knew that everyone would know her car belonged to a stranger. Neighborhoods were protective like that.
     
    They got to the front corner of the house and saw lights turning on in the backyard. They took their chances and got up to run across the street. Sydney looked back and saw the silhouette of a woman, the light reflecting off long blond hair.
     
    They didn’t stop running until they were back in Sydney’s car.
     
    As soon as they both closed their doors, Sydney’s phone rang. They exchanged a look of fear. Her phone hadn’t been on silent and it could have given them away while they were trying to escape.
     
    “Hello?” she said into the phone. She’d been so surprised by the ringing that she hadn’t looked to see who it was.
     
    “Sydney, it’s Mia. I think I have something for you.”

CHAPTER 7
     
    “Where are you?” Sydney asked.
     
    “I’m sitting in my car outside the wake. Are you still in Westhedge?”
     
    “Yeah. We’ll meet you at your house in a half hour. Let’s get out of here.”
     
    “Perfect. See you then.”
     
    “Sydney, you’ve got to read this,” Grace said, handing over the letter she had been reading while Sydney was on the phone. They exchanged envelopes and Grace started leafing through the photos again, taking her time to study them.
     
    Dear Mr. Gibbs,
     
    It is with great sadness that we inform you that your final day working at Westhedge Public Library will be October 31.
     
    The Library Commission
     
    Short, sweet and to the point. Well, not so sweet, actually.
     
    “So they had just fired him. Last week. Right before he was killed. They must have known something was going on,” Sydney thought out loud.
     
    “And, that means they must have had Allison lined up for a while to take his place. This letter is dated the middle of October. It wasn’t a spur of the moment thing. Allison didn’t kill him for his job.”
     
    “I had thought it was strange that she’d already been working in Westhedge, but they’d handpicked her to take his place before they even let him know.”
     
    “But it does open up space for him to have reaped his revenge before he was gone. He could have been fired for other reasons, but then taken from the library’s fund, which could have been why he was killed.”
     
    “We’ve got to go talk to Mia. Maybe she found something out about one of the Commissioners.”
     
    Sydney started up the car and sped back to Twin Peaks. She wanted to put as much distance between herself and Westhedge as quickly as possible. If the person who had shown up knew they were in the house, that would mean they were being followed. And the earlier threat in her office had certainly made it sound like that.
     
    Both women constantly checked the review mirror for anyone who might be tailing them. But they saw only three cars on the whole drive, and they were all going the opposite direction. So unless there was a driver using night vision glasses, they were safe showing up at Mia’s without putting anyone else in danger.
     
    “Mia, what do you have?” Sydney asked as soon as they walked in the door. The kids were already in bed and her husband was in the shower. Sydney hoped to make this a quick meeting so they could make a plan for the next day and possibly how to involve Detective Massey now that there was evidence piling up that Sydney wasn’t the killer.
     
    “So at first I thought it was a lost cause. His parents were there, and obviously they were beside themselves with sorrow. But he had no siblings, and I didn’t know anyone else. So I gave my condolences—they seemed to remember that they