Red Velvet Cupcake Murder (Hannah Swensen, #16)(59)

“Jack!” Marge gulped.

“Dad!” Lisa exclaimed, sounding stunned.

If they’d all been acting in a romantic comedy, it would have been hilarious. But this was no comedy and Hannah knew it wouldn’t be romantic for very much longer unless she explained things fast.

“It’s not what you think,” she said. “Jack’s not proposing to me. I’m just helping him rehearse.” She turned to Jack. “Ask her now!”

“Right now?”

“Yes, right now!”

“But we’re not through rehearsing.”

“Yes, we are. Do it now, Jack!”

As Jack walked over to Marge, Hannah realized that everything was going to be all right. Marge’s lips were twitching and she was shaking slightly, as if she was holding back laughter. One look at Lisa further reassured Hannah. Lisa was holding her hand over her mouth and her eyes were bright with suppressed mirth.

“My dearest,” Jack said and then he stopped. “Do I have to get down on my knee? This floor is hard and I did it five times already.”

“Here, Jack,” Marge said, grabbing a towel from the counter and tossing it to him. “Use the towel to cushion your knee.”

“Thanks, Marge.” Jack positioned the towel, got down on one knee, reached up to take Marge’s hand and kissed it. “I love you so much. You’re so good, and kind, and sweet. I want you to be my wife. Please be my wife. Will you marry me, my love?”

Marge reached down with her other hand and helped Jack to his feet. Then she smiled and kissed him. “Of course I’ll marry you,” she said.

“Lisa?” Jack turned to his daughter. “Is it okay with you?”

“It’s perfect with me, Dad,” Lisa said, going over to give him a hug. “Herb and I were wondering when you’d get around to it.”

Hannah had just finished mixing up her last batch of cookies, Oatmeal Raisin Crisps this time, when there was a knock on the back door. She crossed the room and pulled the door open to reveal someone she’d never expected to see.

“Mike!” she exclaimed.

“Hi, Hannah,” Mike said, standing there obviously ill at ease. “Is there anyone with you in the kitchen?”

“No.” Hannah remembered how hard and cold he’d looked last night when he’d questioned her. He didn’t look like that now, but perhaps he was playing good cop today. “You don’t have an audience this time around. Should I invite some people so that you can arrest me in front of a crowd?”

Mike looked pained as he shook his head. “Don’t be like that, Hannah. I know last night was bad for you, but I was just doing my job.”

“I think that’s what they said in Nazi Germany!”

“Hannah . . . can you please forget last night for a minute? I’m sorry about what happened. I really am. But I had to follow the rules and do my duty.”

“And you’re not doing your duty now?”

“No. It’s exactly the opposite. I shouldn’t be here. I could be fired for being here. It’s against every rule in the book. So I’m not here, okay? You can’t let anyone know I’ve been here. I could be brought up on charges if anyone sees me here.”

Hannah had the urge to slam the door in his face, but she thought better of it. Mike was here for a reason and unless she was drastically mistaken, it wasn’t to try to fool her into incriminating herself.

“Hannah? Please. Can I come in?”

“Okay,” Hannah said, relenting. “Come in then. But I’m warning you that you could be seen. Lisa’s started telling her story, but Jack, or Marge, or Michelle could come into the kitchen at any time.”

Mike stepped in and glanced around the kitchen. “Can we talk in the pantry? We could shut the door. If someone came in they wouldn’t see me.”

“That’s okay, I guess.” Hannah led the way, opened the door, and flicked on the light. “Come in.”

Mike stepped in and Hannah shut the door behind them. “It’s a big pantry,” he said.

“I know. Lisa and Herb came down here after your detectives searched it last night. She said it took them a couple of hours to put everything back in place. Were they looking for poison?”

“Not poison. Tranquilizers.”

“What?”

“Doc Knight ran more tests and he found traces of a powerful tranquilizer in her system. It was enough to stop her heart.”

“Then she didn’t drown?”

“No. She was dead when the car hit the water.”

“So your guys were searching for tranquilizers when they trashed the pantry last night.”

“Yeah.” Mike looked a little sick. “I’m sorry, Hannah. I wish I could have come down here with them, but I couldn’t. I was busy with other things.”

“Things like interrogating me.”

“Yeah.” Mike sighed again, and then he reached out and wrapped his arms around Hannah. “I’m so sorry, Hannah. You have no idea. I didn’t sleep at all last night. I felt so bad about questioning you that I couldn’t get to sleep. All I kept seeing in my mind was the way you looked at me. Your eyes seemed to say, You betrayed me. And that just about killed me.”

“It wasn’t a whole lot of fun for me, either.” Despite herself, Hannah moved a little closer. She wasn’t quite ready to forgive Mike, but his arms felt good around her. “I felt like I’d just lost my best friend.”