Killer Deadline Read online

  Killer

  Deadline

  A Nikki Bryant Cozy Mystery

  by

  Lauren Carr

  Killer Deadline

  All Rights Reserved © 2020 by Lauren Carr

  Published by Acorn Book Services

  No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author.

  For information, call: 304-995-1295

  or e-mail: [email protected].

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Designed by Acorn Book Services

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  [email protected]

  304-995-1295

  Cover designed by Exquisitely Covered Books

  ASIN: B086JHNVYP

  Published in the United States of America

  Table of Contents

  Cast of Characters

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Epilogue

  About the Author

  Check Out Lauren Carr’s Mysteries!

  Attention Book-Clubbers!

  Came Upon a Midnight Murder

  Cast of Characters

  (in order of appearance)

  Nikki Bryant: An investigative journalist. After traveling the world chasing down the truth for major news stories, Nikki returns home to solve the most important story of all—the unsolved murder of her father. She may find some love along the way if she’s lucky.

  Camille Addison: The best friend of Nikki’s mother. Mother of Ashleigh, Nikki’s arch-rival.

  Ashleigh Addison: Current anchor for the evening news at WKPG-TV. Nikki’s childhood rival.

  Conner: Ashleigh’s husband and childhood friend. Handsome and popular and he knows it. Professional football player.

  Ryan Spaulding: Childhood friend and Nikki’s stepbrother. He is the chief of the state police crime lab. Son of Harrison Spaulding.

  Ross Bryant: Nikki and Julie Bryant’s father. Kathleen’s husband. Owner of WKPG-TV, local television station in central Pennsylvania.

  Daniel Van Metre: Retired county sheriff. Ross’s murder is the case that keeps him up at night.

  NerdyGuy: Nikki’s online friend who pushes her to return home to reconnect with the love she had left behind.

  Elmo: Nikki Bryant’s boxer dog. Social media influencer.

  Debra Gregory: Ross’s administrative assistant. After his death, she worked for Kathleen.

  Kathleen Bryant: Nikki and Julie’s mother. Savvy business owner. She runs the Bryant Bed and Breakfast. After Ross’s death, she makes WKPG-TV one of the top television stations in the state. Married to Ryan’s father.

  Harrison Spaulding: Kathleen’s current husband. Nikki and Julie’s stepfather. Ryan’s father. Retired building contractor.

  Becca Cambridge: Young investigative journalist with WKPG-TV.

  Suzanne Lipton: Married to Wyatt Altman. Currently, host of the station’s live morning show. She was the evening news anchor when Ross was murdered.

  Julie Bryant: Nikki’s older sister. Married with children. Kindergarten teacher.

  Sam Hill: Legendary investigative journalist with WKPG-TV.

  Art Lowell: Owner of the most successful television station in the Pittsburgh area. He believes that money can buy anything and he wants to own everything.

  Greta Wheeler: Art Lowell’s daughter. Married to Bob Wheeler, the school superintendent.

  Sheriff Tanya Williams: Current county sheriff.

  Helga: Deputy chief of the crime lab.

  Prologue

  Twenty-Three Years Ago

  “Where’s your father?”

  Twelve-year-old Nikki Bryant looked up from where she was admiring the latest “battle scar” on her knee. She had earned it while trying to steal third base.

  The umpire called her out. Nikki suspected that he had accepted a bribe to make sure her team lost.

  Instead of seeing the kind face of Camille Addison offering to drive her home from the softball game, she saw her daughter smirking behind her.

  “I guess he got hung up at the station.” Nikki tucked a stray lock of blond hair behind her ear. “He’ll be here soon.”

  Camille glanced around the ball field. Most of the softball players and their parents had left. In the late spring season, the sun was setting behind the Allegheny Mountains that cut a path through Pine Grove, a tiny town in central Pennsylvania.

  “Get in the car, I’ll take you home.”

  The two twelve-year-old girls’ eyes met. It was bad enough that their mothers were best friends. Not only that, but they were stuck going to the same middle school, being on the same softball team, cheerleading squad, and band.

  Riding home in the same vehicle was the last straw.

  Ashleigh tossed a wave of her silky blond hair behind her shoulder in a move that she had perfected. “Mom, Mr. Bryant will be here in a few minutes.” She rolled her blue eyes trimmed in long black eyelashes.

  “Most likely he got held up at the station and forgot about the time.” Camille gestured for Nikki to get up from the bench. “We’ll take you to the station.”

  “He’s probably on his way here now.” Nikki picked up her athletic bag. She saw Ashleigh roll her eyes once more in the other direction.

  “If he is, then he’ll see us drive past on our way to the station,” Camille said while herding the two girls toward the near empty parking lot. “Come along, Nikki.”

  The twelve-year-olds exchanged hate-filled glances before shuffling toward the Addison’s light blue Cadillac. Along the way, they passed two boys waiting while their fathers chatted about the Pittsburgh Pirates’ season line-up.

  One of the boys smiled a toothy grin. “Hi, Ashleigh.”

  She met the greeting with a toss of her hair over her shoulder and the batting of her eyelashes. “Hello, Conner.”

  The boy wet his lips while eying the pretty blond.

  After several innings of softball, Ashleigh looked like she had just stepped out of the pages of a teen magazine. Her clean clothes hugged all the right places. She wore her athletic shorts short to accentuate her long legs. Her lips were plump and dewy.

  Nikki looked like she had been dragged around the bases. Her long hair was on the verge of success in escaping its worn purple elasticized bondage—generally called a scrunchie. The dirt from second base appeared to be superglued to her uniform and face.

  While Conner eyed Ashleigh, his tall, lanky friend greeted Nikki. “That was a great slide into third base.” The smile on his face reached his blue eyes hidden behind thick eyeglasses. The braces on his teeth sparked off a ray of the setting sun. “Too bad you were out.”

/>   “Thanks, Ryan,” she replied, “but I was safe.”

  “No, you weren’t. But it was a great try. No one can kick up a cloud of dirt like you.”

  “I beat that ball by a mile! The only reason Mr. Logan called me out is because he’s on the take from Mr. Williams because he couldn’t stand to see his darling Tanya lose.”

  “Nice try. Tanya tagged you before your foot hit the base. I saw.”

  “How could you see? You’re half-blind!”

  “Get in the car, Nikki,” Camille called to her from the other side of the car.

  “I was safe,” she hissed at Ryan as she turned to the car.

  “You were out,” he replied.

  “Safe!” Nikki yanked open the door.

  “Out!”

  Nikki spun around to advance on him. “Safe!”

  “Out!”

  “Nikki! Get in the car!” Camille shouted.

  Nikki rode in silence. Ashleigh stewed about the detour while her mother drove to WKPG-TV, the television station owned by Ross Bryant, Nikki’s father.

  “How’s your grandmother?” Camille asked about Nikki’s grandmother in Florida. Nikki’s mother was caring for her after she had had a heart attack.

  “Mom should be coming home this weekend.” Nikki sat up in her seat when Camille turned into the parking lot to find a fleet of police cruisers. Her father’s van was parked in his reserved parking space.

  A uniformed police officer stepped in front of the Cadillac and held out his hand in a signal for them to stop.

  Camille rolled down her window. “What’s going on, Ray?”

  Nikki leaned forward to hear his response.

  The officer froze when he saw Nikki. After a long pause, he gestured for Camille to pull up behind the sheriff’s cruiser.

  “What’s going on?” Ashleigh craned her neck to watch the police officers and plainclothes detectives rushing in and out of the television station.

  Nikki watched the officer talking to Sheriff Daniel Van Metre. He was a good friend of her father. The two of them often went fishing together. The sheriff glanced over at the Cadillac and hung his head.

  Nikki’s heart sank.

  Sheriff Van Metre rubbed his face with his hand and slowly made his way across the lot in their direction.

  As he drew closer, Nikki’s heart dropped into the pit of her stomach.

  His words sounded like a series of noises as the news hit home.

  Life as she knew it would never be the same. Her father had been killed.

  Chapter One

  Present Day

  “I know you’re going to find all of these changes very exciting, but I need to warn you about your two evil stepsisters.”

  Nikki Bryant tucked a stray lock of her blond hair behind her ear and smiled down at Elmo. The boxer dog paused drinking the water she had poured into his travel water dish. He peered up at her. His floppy ears perked up.

  In her purse, Nikki’s phone beeped to signal a message from one of her social media accounts.

  “They call them evil stepsisters for a reason,” she told the dog while extracting her phone from the bag.

  A soft smile crossed her lips when she read the social media handle for the sender: NerdyGuy.

  Are you there yet?

  She pushed her fashion sunglasses up onto the top of her head to secure her long hair from her face. Her fingers flew across the screen as she tapped out her reply. One hour away.

  Nervous? he responded instantly.

  She answered. What do you think?

  It’s going to be fine. I’m sure he’s equally nervous.

  Nikki’s teeth clenched. She anchored Elmo’s leash with her foot so her dog couldn’t wander off in the busy interstate rest area. Her fingertips flew across the screen.

  How can you be so sure? You don’t know any of these people. You’ve never met them. What was I thinking? I had a fabulous career at a major news station in Las Vegas. Who in their right mind leaves a successful job to return to their small town and take over their family’s television station? Tell me again why I’m doing this.

  NerdyGuy’s reply was quick. For a second chance with your first and only love.

  I never should have told you about Ryan.

  You wouldn’t have if he hasn’t been on your mind all these years.

  Nikki growled.

  Bored with sitting at the bench with nothing to do, Elmo pawed at her knee. He was ready to get back into the SUV and hit the road.

  Remember our deal, Nikki tapped out. I’m giving up everything to take another shot at the love of my life. You have to tell the girl that got away, that you still love her.

  I remember our deal. But before I do that, you need to go home to Ryan.

  She sighed. What if things don’t work out? What if I see him after all these years and realize that he’s not the one?

  NerdyGuy replied with the question: What if he is?

  “Oh, dear.” Nikki Bryant let out a deep breath when she saw the white sign trimmed in forest green at the top of the hill overlooking Pine Grove’s town-square. It read:

  Bryant Bed & Breakfast

  Established in 1870, the red-brick Italianate Victorian home was flanked by tall pine trees. The weekend following the Labor Day holiday, the blue cranesbills lining the walkway leading up to the wrap-around porch were amazingly in full bloom.

  Guests of the bed-and-breakfast were welcome to park in the circular driveway out front. The permanent residents, members of the Bryant-Spaulding family, drove around to the rear of the house to park in the four-car garage. Back before automobiles, the garage had served as a carriage house. The upper floor of the garage had been renovated into an apartment—home to Nikki’s stepbrother.

  My stepbrother. Ugh!

  Everything looked the same as it had when she had left for Washington, DC to embark into her journalism. Except, she didn’t recall the bed and breakfast’s driveway so crowded with vehicles.

  “We forgot about Mom’s retirement party, Elmo.” She felt a paw reach up from the rear seat to scratch the back of her arm. The comforting touch was partnered with a low whine. “That’s easy for you to say.” She turned around to gaze back at the boxer dog secured in the back seat. “You’re not a moron.”

  Elmo responded by licking his pushed in snout with his long, thick tongue.

  “Let’s get this over with.”

  With that, she took her foot off the brake and pulled up to park behind a candy apple red Lexus. She turned off her royal blue SUV and unfastened her seatbelt. In doing so, she cast a glance at the apartment windows visible above the foliage of the side gardens.

  She wondered if he was watching for her arrival, or was he already at the party? How did he feel about her return to Pine Grove? Excited? Apprehensive? Indifferent?

  Wish I could feel indifferent. If I hadn’t been an idiot — The knock on the driver’s side window startled her from her thoughts.

  An older woman with long dark hair streaked with silver smiled at her through the window. “Nikki, is that—”

  “Is that Elmo?” The younger woman next to her blurted out. She held a little girl in her arms. Both pressed against the rear window to peer at the dog, who stood in his seat and wagged his tail. “That is Elmo!” She whipped her cell phone from the bag slung from her shoulder. “Can we have a selfie with him?”

  “Don’t you think you should say hello to Nikki, first?” the older woman asked. “She just drove all the way here from Nevada.” She turned back to Nikki, who climbed out of the SUV. “It’s great to have you back home, Nikki. Your mother is very excited. The whole station is thrilled about you taking over. They can’t wait to see what you have planned to take WKPG to the next level.” She turned to the young mother and child waving at the dog through the window. “Do you remember Katie?”


  The name struck Nikki like a bolt of lightning.

  Katie!

  As a teenager, she had babysat the youngster who at that time had been a preschooler. The older woman, Debra, had been her father’s administrative assistant and office manager.

  “And this is my granddaughter Fiona.” Debra ran her hand across the top of the toddler’s dark hair.

  Oh, man! Katie is a mother! Nikki felt twice as old as her thirty-five years. She shoved the sense of instant aging aside and yanked open the rear door of the vehicle to release Elmo from his seatbelt.

  His tail wagging, the boxer dog practically jumped into Katie’s arms. Perched at her mother’s feet, Fiona was small enough to be face to face with the big dog.

  Instantly, Katie began snapping pictures.

  Elmo faced the camera, opened his generous mouth, and dropped his long tongue to the side to smile at the camera. Fiona wrapped her arms around his neck and grinned.

  “Oh, this is going to get so many likes,” Katie said. “I’ll be sure to tag Elmo. You’ll share it to his page, won’t you, Nikki?”

  “Of course, I will.” Nikki was aware of Debra rolling her eyes behind them.

  “I want to introduce Elmo to my friends.” With Elmo’s leash in her hand, Fiona hopped up and down.

  Together, Katie, Fiona, and Elmo trotted up the walkway and into the house.

  Debra stayed with Nikki, who collected her purse and overnight bag from her vehicle. “Nothing like having a celebrity guest to make a party a hit.”

  “If anyone had told me five years ago that I’d be human to a canine social media influencer, I would have told them that the world would have to go mad first. Little did I know.”

  Together, they strolled toward the front door.

  “Do you get that a lot? People wanting to be photographed with your dog?”

  Nikki laughed. “Would you believe during the last governor’s race in Nevada, both candidates offered me $500 to have their pictures taken with Elmo and posted online?” She paused with her hand on the door handle. “Apparently, being Elmo’s friend increases your cool factor ten percentage points—according to their campaign managers.”