Read Doughnuts & Deadly Schemes (Culinary Competition Mysteries Book 3) for Free Online Page A

to look through, so she would have to use a more conspicuous method of seeing what was happening in the next room.
    Slowly she pushed the door open. The Victorian-style street lights outside, located along the sidewalk, dimly illuminated the front part of the room. Through the doorway leading to the coffee shop area, she could see brighter light coming from the back of that space. There weren't any streetlights along the side of the building.
    Amy sprinted across the dining room. She flattened herself against the wall beside the doorway and took a deep breath. One. Two. Three. She leaned around the corner. One of the lamps in the seating area in front of the fireplace was on. Amy spun back into the dining room and leaned her head against the wall. She hadn't seen anybody, but there were plenty of shadow-cloaked tables to hide under. Not to mention there was a short hallway to the left of the fireplace that led to the bathrooms and an emergency exit.
    She adjusted her grip on the knife then ducked down. The order counter where the espresso machine hissed away all day provided a bit of cover as Amy crept toward the back of the room. When she was past the counter, she straightened. There was no use staying in the muscle-torqueing stance when there was nothing to hide behind. But maybe an intruder was crouched down on the other side of the counter. She whirled around. No burglars. Just the mini-fridge and stacks of paper bags for to-go pastries in racks on the counter.
    A high-pitched groan catapulted her heart into her throat. She whipped around to face the noise, knife in the slice-and-dice-an-attacker position. Sophie let out a strangled squeal as the bathroom door whooshed shut behind her.
    "Amy! What are you doing? I thought you weren't coming in today."
    The surprise was an electric shock to Amy's muscles. Her whole body felt tingly. Sophie was okay, but Amy wasn't so sure she was since her heart was trying to beat its way out of her chest after the adrenaline surge. She explained, "I woke up and couldn't sleep, so I figured I might as well come in and help for a bit. The door was unlocked, and I couldn't find you. I thought something terrible had happened."
    Sophie held up her hands. Her palms were covered in bleeding cuts and swollen scratches. "I fell down when I got out of my car. I didn't want to get blood in the kitchen sink, so I came to the bathroom to wash up."
    Amy set the knife on the counter behind her and rushed to her friend. She put her arm around Sophie's shoulder, being careful not to bump her hands. "You poor baby! We need to get some antibacterial cream and bandages on those cuts. Where's the first aid kit?"
    "In my office."
    "I'm not Carla," Amy said as she followed Sophie through the shadowy rooms, toward the main kitchen. "But I think I can get you patched up for now."
    They squeezed into the hole-in-the-wall office. Sophie sat at her desk chair while Amy tried to apply salve to the wounds. It was a game of hit-or-miss because Sophie's hands were shaking violently. Amy fitted the largest Band-Aids she could find in the first aid box over the worst cuts.
    "You need to see a doctor to make sure you don't develop an infection. The parking area probably has all kinds of vehicle fluids dripped on the pavement and gravel. I'm sure you're in pain, so maybe a doctor could give you something to help with that, too."
    "I'm more worried about an infection than the pain. I'm tough. Have you seen the burn scars on my arms?" Sophie chuckled as she rotated her arms so Amy could see the thick, raised scars scattered on the underside of her forearms. Ghosts of the wounds from bumping searing hot oven racks and scalding pot rims.
    Sophie's phone dinged. She winced when she plunged her right hand into the back pocket of her khaki pants. After checking the message, she quickly switched the phone back off and set it on the desk. "I can grit my teeth for now, to make it through the morning."
    Amy set down the almost empty