MY FATAL VALENTINE

  JUNIPER HOLIDAY BOOK 5

  LEIGHANN DOBBS

  CONTENTS

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  More Books By Leighann Dobbs:

  About the Author

  CHAPTER ONE

  “So there you have it, folks! Adrien Stewart! This is this year’s Holiday Valentine’s Day Exchange and Raffle Hottie King of Hearts!” Juniper held up Adrien’s hand with one of her own. With the other, she egged the crowd on into offering hoots, hollers, catcalls, and whistles while Adrien grinned at all the attention he gathered from a veritable sea of Crescent Cove female eligibles.

  Juniper couldn’t blame the female Covians for hooting. Adrien was quite handsome, with velvety brown eyes, a square jaw, and arms like a lumberjack’s. He didn’t smell too bad, either, like a cross between dark, spiced cinnamon and the ocean. A scent which one lucky female would be savoring on their date later in the evening.

  It was the Juniper Holiday annual Valentine’s Day raffle, a charity event she put on every year. So far, everything about her Valentine’s Day party had gone off without a hitch... unlike previous parties that had ended in murder.

  But this one, held in the ballroom of her mansion, was going quite well, Juniper thought as she glanced around the room at the pink and red streamers and the heart and Cupid decorations. The tables were draped in white linen with a pattern of little hearts, and each had a centerpiece of red roses. The guests all looked happy as they eagerly anticipated the drawing for the lucky lady who would be Adrien’s date.

  After a moment, Juniper released Adrien’s hand. “And now, ladies… let’s get to the moment you’ve all been waiting for!”

  Victoria Cooper, Juniper’s goddaughter, pressed a button, and a digitized drumroll poured from the speakers placed strategically around the ballroom while Juniper herself turned the crank on an old bingo roller, inside of which was the name of every eligible female in the room, printed on little slips of folded paper.

  Each person had paid a premium to be in the raffle, and there would be three winners of lesser prizes, with the grand prize being an all-expense-paid date with Adrien.

  The drums stopped, and all the ladies waited with bated breath while Juniper reached in to pull out one of the slips of paper. She grinned. “Are you ready?”

  The crowd of ladies all yelled together, “Yes!”

  Juniper chuckled at their eagerness. “Very well, here we go. Our third runner-up—Miss Delilah Fontaine!”

  Delilah, a cute little brunette wearing low-cut hot-pink silk bell bottoms and a short white shirt that showed off the belly-button ring in her navel, hopped up and down with excitement then turned to her left to hug her friend.

  “Delilah, you win a five-hundred-dollar gift certificate to Just Jewels!” Just Jewels was a popular jewelry store in Crescent Cove.

  Once the cheers faded and everyone got quiet again, Juniper nodded to Victoria. Drums again, then silence, then…

  “Our second runner-up is… Miss Tracy Muller! Tracy wins a five-pound box of premium chocolates from Decadent Delights, and don’t throw out those gold hearts—they’re twenty-four carat!” Juniper had the premium chocolate store in town design special chocolates with little genuine gold hearts on some of them. “Yay, Tracy! Woot! You go, girl! Come on, everyone, give her a hand.”

  The crowd erupted in clapping, and Juniper grinned. Tracy Muller was a little more than a tad on the shy side. Her face was already three shades brighter red than it had been a moment before, and her eyes were wide despite telltale signs of excitement. Juniper figured she’d already started to sweat at the thought of winning a date with hunky Adrien Stewart, but hey, at least she was still smiling. Truth be told, Juniper had been hoping Tracy would win the date; she didn’t hang with the popular crowd and rarely dated. It would have been nice for her.

  Nodding for Tori to hit the drums again, Juniper waited for the dramatic stretch of silence. “Okay, girls, this is the last runner-up before we pull the grand prize winner!” Juniper reached into the drum and pulled out a paper. “Miss Clarice Bellmont! You win gift certificates to Crescent Cove’s finest restaurants—RarelyDone Steakhouse, Dusty Buns Bakery, and the Rotgut and Ruin local bar.”

  A whole section of ladies hooted and hollered in support of Miss Bellmont. Juniper didn’t say a word, but she definitely knew why. Those snobbies, the little socialite “daddy-bought-me-a-BMW” girls, expected Clarice to win because, well, she was Crescent Cove’s new mayor’s daughter. The old mayor, Floyd Berkshaw, had been shot and killed by his wife, and the vice mayor had served for only three weeks before quitting and necessitating a quick election, which was won by Clarice’s father, Johnny Bellmont.

  Despite winning the best runner-up prize, Clarice didn’t look happy. She’d probably been expecting to win the grand prize. Juniper was glad she hadn’t. Clarice, along with her friends, Emma Porter, Lacey Hines, and Tiffany Davenport, had always been entitled. They were a few years younger than Tori, but Juniper remembered Tori telling her how they’d been rich mean girls in high school. Even though they were almost thirty now, Juniper could tell not much had changed.

  Secretly, Juniper wouldn’t have been surprised if the entitled ladies had tried to sneak in and rig the final roll, but she’d seen to it that they couldn’t. Not only had she put the rollers under strict lock and key, she’d had Jacobi haunt the room where they were being kept—as a wholly cautious, totally preventative measure.

  Tori had pressed another button on the machine, as per Juniper’s prior direction, and a short interlude of music played while the runners-up took a moment or two to celebrate their positions before they pulled the big prize winner.

  Silence fell, and right on cue, Tori started the drumroll up again. Juniper gave the crank a couple hearty spins and then clapped while it settled to a stop on its own before she stuck her hand in to choose this year’s Queen of Hearts, the sweet little all-expenses-paid-by-Juniper date with smokin’-hot Adrien Stewart winner.

  “Ladies! And the winner is…”

  Lover of drama that she was, Juniper waited, drawing the moment out as long as she possibly could before slowly unfolding the paper in her hand. “Oh, would you look at that? Miss Tiffany Davenport!”

  She hurried to the edge of the makeshift stage she and Tori had put together a week ago. “Come on up here, Tiffany!”

  Reaching back for Adrien’s hand, she paused to give the newly chosen queen time to join them. Once she had, Juniper put Tiffany’s hand in Adrien’s and handed her a dozen long-stemmed red roses that were all neatly tied with a bow, and a box of chocolates.

  Then, she motioned for Fedora Layhee, her neighbor and friend, to bring her the golden boxes.

  Inside, each gold-wrapped box was lined with thick, cushiony velvet on which sat a glittering tiara and princely crown, respectively.

  Juniper reached in and placed the jeweled pieces on this year’s winners’ heads while Fedora cheerfully slipped the sashes, which spelled out precisely who these two lovely people were, over their heads.

  Juniper led the couple to the center of the stage. “Ladies! Gentlemen! Gather around, please! Today, I give to you the Juniper Holiday Valentine’s Day Exchange and Raffle’s own King and Queen of Hearts!”

  Juniper plastered a smile on her face and looked out over the crowd. Truth be told, she had hoped one of the less prominent young ladies would have won. The crowd was clapping, and the mean-girl clique was hopping up and down—everyone except for Clarice, that is. Clarice was giving Tiffany a narrow-eyed gaze that did not look very friendly.

  The rest of the crowd started back to their tables. Food would be served, and people would mill about, secretly leaving valentines at the place settings of the other guests. Juniper smiled over at Tori, hopeful that this was one party that would not have any type of incident that required the police.

  CHAPTER TWO

  “Juni,” Fedora trilled. “The limo is here. Where are the king and queen? Everyone’s ready to see them off.”

  “Everyone?” Juniper asked, pointedly looking around the still-crowded ballroom.

  Fedora flapped her hand about. “You know what I mean.”

  “Yes, but do you? I mean, the definition of ‘everyone’ means everyone, Dora, dear. There are quite a few people still mingling here. Besides, it’s not like they’re getting married. It’s just a date.”

  “Juniper Holiday, I’m quite tired of your literalisms, thank you very much,” Fedora said with a little huff.

  Juniper chuckled. “I’m sorry, Dora. Sometimes, it’s too easy to rile you people. I’ll dial it back a bit, I suppose.”

  Fedora sniffed and gave a nod. “Thank you. Now,” she said, scanning the crowd, “where is the Queen of Hearts?”

  “I saw her hanging out near the chocolate fountain with a couple of ladies earlier,” Tori said as she came over, having heard Fedora’s question. “But I don’t know where she’s gone now.”

  Fedora frowned. “She knew the limo would be arriving at fiv
e o’clock, didn’t she?”

  “Yes,” Juniper answered, nodding. “I made sure to let both her and Adrien know so they wouldn’t wander off too far. Hunting people down in this place is a scavenger hunt in itself—ooh, there’s an idea for Easter’s activity, Tor! A scavenger hunt! Grand prize—a cool ten K.”

  “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, June,” Tori said, searching the room for a sign of Tiffany. “Valentine’s Day isn’t over yet.”

  Her scan of the crowd revealed no signs of Tiffany Davenport, and Tori frowned. “Where could she have gone?”

  “Maybe she and Adrien slipped off together,” Juniper suggested, her tone heavy with another implication.

  Tori shook her head. “No, I don’t think they would. At least, not for reasons you think, Juni. Adrien is kind of in a relationship with someone.”

  Juni gasped. “And I crowned him King of Hearts? This contest was open only to single, unattached people! Oooh, just wait till I find him! I’m going to give him a piece of my mind!”

  “Brienne told him to enter,” Tori explained. “She gave her full blessing. Said it was for a good cause.”

  Juniper frowned at her goddaughter. The raffle had an entry fee, with the proceeds going to the Crescent Cove Children’s Hospital. “Well, I suppose the children’s hospital is a good cause, and if Bree doesn’t mind, then I guess it’s okay. How do you know all this?”

  Tori gave her a look. “I do live in the Cove, Juni. I know people just like you do.”

  Juniper sniffed. “I know that. My surprise is warranted, though, considering how often you don’t leave your room.”

  Tori arched her brow at the unspoken implication in Juniper’s tone. “Do you want me to stop writing those stories you love?”

  Juniper gasped. “You wouldn’t!”

  “Of course I wouldn’t,” Tori said. “But the time spent in my room is necessary.”

  “I know that. It just surprises me how much you know about people given how little you leave your room.”

  Tori cut a look at Juniper from the corner of her eye. “Mm-hmm.”

  “Ahem.”

  Tori and Juniper looked to Fedora, who was standing on Juniper’s other side, looking like she was about to be in need of smelling salts.

  Fedora blinked rapidly. “If you two are quite finished, I think we should go look for our missing queen. I’m sure Adrien is wondering where she is as well.”

  “Okay, but low-key,” Juniper said. “I don’t want everyone snooping around the place.”

  Tori rolled her eyes. “As if most of them haven’t already.”

  “You want to win that point, Tortellini, but I’m not going to give it to you because it’s too easy. Try harder, and you might get double points instead. Now, you and Dora go right. I’ll go left and consult with the ghosts since they see stuff we miss. We’ll meet back here in five, hopefully with our missing queen in tow. Okay? Okay. See you both in five.”

  Tori watched her godmother leave in a rush of gold and black sequins and shook her head. To Dora, she said, “We should get going. If I know her, she’s counting down the seconds and will absolutely proclaim herself the winner if she gets back here before we do, whether she finds Tiffany or not.”

  Fedora gave a little sigh. “I know, dear. I know.”

  So without further ado, Tori and Fedora began their search for the missing Queen of Hearts. They searched the music room and the game room, the only empty room in the house, and the sunroom and the entertainment room, which was different from the game room in that it was the only room in which one could watch television, albeit on a gigantic theater screen.

  None of the rooms led to Tiffany, and Tori knew it was time to check the bathrooms. The first one was empty, but the door of the second one had been left open a crack.

  Approaching, Tori knocked and called out Tiffany’s name but got no answer. Through the crack in the door, Tori could see something on the floor.

  Tori pushed the door open a tiny bit more. “Tiffany? Are you in here? The limo’s waiting outside, hon. Tiffany?”

  Still no answer.

  Frowning, Tori pushed the door open a couple inches more, and her eyes went wide. “Oh, no,” she breathed.

  “What is it?” Fedora asked, standing on her tiptoes to look over Tori’s head into the bathroom. “What do you see?”

  “Well, I’m not sure yet, Dora, but I think our Queen of Hearts might need medical assistance.”

  Fedora gasped. “Is she… she’s not… I hope it’s not another…”

  “Maybe she just passed out from the excitement,” Tori said hopefully as she went to the unconscious Tiffany lying on the bathroom floor and knelt next to her. She put her hand on her shoulder and gave a little shake. “Tiffany? Honey? You okay?”

  Tiffany didn’t move.

  Tori’s brows knit in a worried frown. She wasn’t sure if she should try to turn her over… but she should probably move her hair out of in front of her face to check her breathing. As soon as she did so, she gasped and lurched back. Her heart sank, and her stomach twisted. Poor Tiffany…

  To Fedora, she said, “Dora, go to the game room and call for an ambulance and the police. Tiffany Davenport is dead.”

  “Victoria Cooper, you did not just say what I think you said.”

  Turning to look over her shoulder, Tori found her godmother standing in the door, a mixed look of horror and anger on her face.

  Tori pressed her lips together. “I don’t think this Valentine’s Day is going to be a very happy one, June.”

  CHAPTER THREE

  “What is it with these people lately?” Juniper asked of no one as she stood in the space between the bathroom door and the body of this year’s Queen of Hearts. Poor girl. Except for the banner proclaiming her as such, which had been tied extremely tight around her neck—Juniper assumed it was the girl’s cause of death—she looked as if she might have fallen asleep right there on her side on the bathroom floor. “I can’t even have a good party without someone going off all half-cocked and crazy. Bunch of lunatics. How do I keep inviting these kind of people?”

  “They are not ‘these kind of people,’ June. That’s the sad bit,” Tori said. “Whoever killed Tiffany is just a regular person like you and me. The only difference is that they’ve snapped into straight-up insanity for one reason or another.”

  Juniper’s expression was frown heavy. “No. No, I refuse to be lumped into the melting pot with someone like whoever did this, Tor. These loons are not like us. Anyone who would kill another human being without extreme—and I do mean extreme—provocation is nothing like you and I.”

  “Detective Mallard should be here soon,” Tori told her. “I’m sorry you have to deal with this again, June.”

  “It’s starting to get to me, you know?” Juniper poked her head out of the bathroom door, scanning the now-crowded hallway for the familiar face of the Duckman. “Mr. Waddles should have been here ten minutes ago, Tori. Why don’t you go find out what’s taking so long?”

  Tori gave her a look. “You sure you can hold back this crowd on your own?”

  “Let one of them try to get past me.” Juniper straightened. The fierceness of her emotions showing on her face, she said, “Just let them try.”

  “Lucky for us, Terrence and Fedora have already put the contestants into separate areas. The rest of the guests aren’t going to be happy to have to wait for permission to leave, but…” Tori stepped between Juniper and the door. “You sure you’ll be okay here while I go look for Desmond?”

  Juniper nodded. “I’ll be fine. I’ll just look around to see if I can find anything that would help us figure out who did this to poor Tiffany.”

  As soon as the door closed behind Tori, Juniper’s thoughts kicked into a more analytical gear. She scanned the door, the walls, the floor. There could be clues anywhere and everywhere. There should have been clues. But at the moment, she didn’t really see anything beyond the “Queen of Hearts” ribbon around the neck of the deceased. It could be checked for fingerprints, couldn’t it? So could the doorknob, the sink, the toilet, the mirror… all of which was probably as useless as trying to ask Tiffany herself who killed her. Everyone in the mansion had been in this bathroom today at least once.