"Hannah!" It was Andrea"s voice and she sounded anxious. "I"m sorry to call so early, but I knew you"d be up and I really need to talk to you. It"s about...oh drat! Bill"s out of the shower and I can"t talk now. I"m showing two houses this morning, but I"ll come in this afternoon, okay?"
"Fine, but..." Hannah stopped talking when she realized that her sister had hung up. She stood there staring at the receiver for a moment and then she returned it to the cradle. Andrea was usually a late riser. What had happened to get her up before dawn? Or had she been sleepless all night, worrying about something?"
The timer dinged and Hannah removed the pan of Vanilla Crack from the oven. It smelled marvelous. She removed the pieces from the cookie sheet on a wire rack to harden and gave a little smile of satisfaction.
"What smells so heavenly?"
Hannah whirled around to see her youngest sister standing in the kitchen doorway, wearing a red and black checkered nightshirt and pink bunny slippers.
"It"s a new cookie called Vanilla Crack."
"Vanilla Crack?" Mich.e.l.le"s eyebrows approached the edge of her honey-brown bangs. "Do you know what crack is?"
"Of course I know what crack is."
"But you"re still going to call this cookie Vanilla Crack?"
"Yes, I am. There"s no way I"m going to let a slang term invented by a scroungy dope dealer spoil my friend"s cookie name. They"re called Vanilla Crack, and Chocolate Crack, because the syrup is poured on crackers. And anybody who objects to the use of a perfectly good English word because illiterate criminals use it is an idiot!"
Mich.e.l.le backed up a step and held up her hands, palms facing Hannah. "Okay. Forget I mentioned it. You"re absolutely right. I just didn"t know if you knew that it might have negative connotations. It smells divine, though. I think I"ll try a piece for breakfast, if that"s all right with you."
"For breakfast?!" Hannah heard her own words, more than a little censorious, echoing back to her. It wasn"t that long ago that she"d been a college student like Mich.e.l.le, and she"d eaten cold pizza for breakfast. On the scale of nutritional correctness, was a piece of Vanilla Crack that much lower than a piece of cold pepperoni pizza?
"Hannah? Can I try a piece of Vanilla Crack for breakfast?"
"It"s may I. And yes, you may. Let me know how you like it while I start on the Chocolate Crack. And be careful. It hasn"t had long to cool and it could be too hot to eat."
Mich.e.l.le reached out to touch the confection on the cooling racks while Hannah arranged graham crackers on another cookie sheet. Then she put b.u.t.ter and brown sugar into her saucepan and brought it to a boil. She boiled it for the required five minutes, poured it over the graham crackers on the cookie sheet, and slipped the sheet in the oven. She"d just measured out the chocolate chips she"d need once it finished baking when she noticed that there was a large empty s.p.a.ce on the cooling rack. "You"ve already eaten a quarter of a pan?" she asked Mich.e.l.le.
"I guess I was hungry," Mich.e.l.le said a bit sheepishly. "It was great, Hannah. It"s just like a flaky candy bar. Is the Chocolate Crack almost done? I"d like to taste that, too."
"Ten minutes in the oven, five minutes to cool, and you can have a taste...or maybe another quarter-pan. You"re pretty wide awake for someone who didn"t get home until after midnight last night. I thought you said Lonnie had to work a swing shift."
"He did work a swing shift. And before he went to the sheriff"s station, he dropped me off at the community college. It was jazz night at the Cave," Mich.e.l.le named the little bistro on campus that hosted student entertainment in the evenings, "and I met some friends. I caught a ride here with one of them."
"Oh." Hannah turned away to hide her worried expression. She hoped the friends Mich.e.l.le had at the college didn"t include Bradford Ramsey. She"d been meaning to warn Mich.e.l.le about the unscrupulous professor ever since her youngest sister had invited him to Christmas Eve dinner, but the time had never seemed right. Hannah supposed now was as good a time as any, but the thought of imparting such an embarra.s.sing confidence at shortly after five in the morning made her courage shrink up and her voice turn mute.
"What is it?" Mich.e.l.le asked, locking eyes with Hannah. "You look...pained. Is it the coffee on an empty stomach?"
"Heavens, no!" Hannah said, and changed the subject quickly. "That reminds me...what do you think of the coffee? We"re trying a new brand at The Cookie Jar and I brought some home to test."
"It"s really good. I like it better than the old kind. But you haven"t told me what"s wrong?"
Hannah sighed. She supposed she really should answer Mich.e.l.le. She steeled herself to introduce the subject, but just as she was about to speak, the phone rang. "Oops. I"d better get that," she said, and grabbed the phone. "h.e.l.lo?"
"Hi, Hannah. It"s Mike. I"m not calling too early, am I?"
"I"ve been up for an hour, Mike," Hannah answered, using his name deliberately so that Mich.e.l.le would know who it was.
"Tell him hi from me," Mich.e.l.le said, hopping up from her chair. "I"m going to go get dressed. By that time, the Chocolate Crack should be cool enough to try."
"Did she say Chocolate Crack?" Mike asked, and Hannah could hear the shock in his voice.
"That"s right. It"s a new recipe. And I do know what crack is. This crack refers to one of the ingredients, crackers, and I"m not about to change the cookie name because some criminals use it for drug slang."
"Okay. Okay. I just wanted you to know, that"s all." Mike backed off quickly. "Have you heard from Norman?"
"Yes, at four thirty-five this morning. He told me he couldn"t sleep well without Cuddles."
"That figures. It"s all a matter of habit. When I was growing up, I slept in a room with my older brothers. When they moved out, it took me a week before I could sleep through the night. It was just too quiet, you know?"
"I do know. So what"s up, Mike? You don"t usually call this time of the morning just to chat."
Mike gave a little laugh. "You know me too well, and you"re right. Do you know where Norman is staying in the Cities?"
"No, and I didn"t ask him when he called. I should have, but I guess it was just too early to operate on full brainpower."
"I know what you mean."
"Do you want me to ask if he calls again? He"ll probably get in touch with me sometime this evening."
"That"ll be too late. I need to call and ask him where he hides his extra key."
"Which key?"
"His house key. I know he hides one somewhere outside."
"Did Norman tell you that?"
"No, but almost all the homeowners do it. It could be nasty if you got locked outside by accident in the winter."
"True," Hannah said and then she was silent. She wasn"t about to give away Norman"s hiding place until she knew more about why Mike needed that information.
"So do you know where he hides it?"
"Yes. Why do you want to know?"
"One of Norman"s neighbors was driving by on her way to work the early shift at DelRay this morning, and she saw a light flick off upstairs. She knew that Norman was gone, so she called the station to report it."
"That was nice of her."
"Yes, it was. It"s probably a light on a timer or something like that, but I"m driving out there to check it out. I"ll jimmy a window or something if I have to, but it"d be a lot easier if I had a key."
"Of course it would. I"ve got a key here, but it"ll be a lot faster if you drive straight out there and use Norman"s hidden key. There"s a concrete statue of a moose under the pine tree to the left of the front door. The key"s in its mouth."
"Wow!" Mike was clearly impressed. "That"s a great hiding place. I never would have thought to look there. Most people hide their keys under flowerpots on the front porch, or they"ve got one of those silly little rocks that"s hollowed out to hold a key."
Hannah frowned. Mike had just described the rock she had in her planter by the front door. "Do criminals know about those rocks?"
"Sure they do. And just in case they"re not smart enough to figure it out, all they have to do is flip the rock over and it says, Hide-A-Key on the flap that slides over the hole." Mike stopped speaking for a moment and then he chuckled. "Don"t tell me you"ve got one of those!"
"Not anymore."
"Good. Thanks for the information, Hannah. I"ll check out Norman"s house right away."
"I"ll be leaving for work in just a couple of minutes. Will you call me on my cell phone if there"s anything wrong?"
"Sure, but you"ll have to remember to turn it on."
"I"ll turn it on," she promised, more than a little amused. She had a habit of turning off her cell phone when she didn"t want to receive calls and forgetting to turn it back on again.
"Do you want to go out for a burger tonight after I finish my shift?"
An outsider to their complicated relationship might have thought that Mike was following the old adage, Make hay while the sun shines, and taking advantage of the fact that Norman was out of town. Hannah knew that simply wasn"t true. If Mike felt like asking her to go out for a burger, he"d ask her whether Norman was in town, or not.
"That sounds nice," she responded. "What time?"
"I"ll pick you up at your place at six, and we"ll run out to the Corner Tavern. They"ve got a new burger with peanut b.u.t.ter and peppers inside. It comes with something called an onion bouquet, and I want to try it."
Hannah said goodbye, and when she hung up the receiver, she was smiling. She was still smiling after she"d taken the Chocolate Crack out of the oven, sprinkled the top with chocolate chips, and spread them out into a frosting with a spatula. When she"d first met Mike, she"d suspected that he was a meat and potatoes man, a typical Midwesterner who hadn"t strayed far from the cuisine his parents and grandparents had enjoyed. And then he"d met her and his world had changed, although the jury was still out on whether it was for the better, or the worse.
It had all started with the Jalapeno Brownies she"d baked for him and left on his desk at the sheriff"s station in retaliation for saying that someone else"s brownies were the best he"d ever tasted. But like many attempts to retaliate, this one had turned out to be a joke...on her! Mike had loved the brownies and Hannah credited them for opening up his eyes to the exciting possibilities of unorthodox food combinations. On the other hand, her fiery hot brownies could have permanently shocked his taste buds into complete pa.s.sivity, leaving him completely open to sampling any gastronomic innovation, worthy or not.
VANILLA CRACK.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F., rack in the middle position.
1 box salted soda crackers. (I used Saltines) 2 sticks salted b.u.t.ter (1 cup, 8 ounces, pound) 1 cup white (granulated) sugar 2 teaspoons vanilla extract cup salted nut pieces Line a 10-inch by 15-inch cookie sheet with heavy-duty foil. If you have a jellyroll pan, that"s perfect. If you don"t, turn up the edges of the foil to form sides.
Spray the foil with Pam or other nonstick cooking spray. (You want to be able to peel it off later, after the cookies harden.) Cover the pan completely with a single layer of soda crackers, salt side up. (You can break the crackers in pieces to make them fit if you have to.) Set the cracker-lined jellyroll pan or cookie sheet aside while you cook the topping.
Combine the b.u.t.ter with the white sugar and vanilla in a heavy saucepan. Bring it to a full boil over medium high heat on the stovetop, stirring constantly. (A full boil will have breaking bubbles all over the surface of the pan.) Boil it for exactly five (5) minutes, stirring it constantly. If it sputters too much, you can reduce the heat. If it starts to lose the boil, you can increase the heat. Just don"t stop stirring.
Pour the mixture over the soda crackers as evenly as you can.
Hannah"s Note: I start by pouring the mixture in lines from top to bottom over the length of the pan. Then I turn it and pour more lines over the width of the pan. Once the whole pan is crosshatched with the hot toffee mixture, I pour any that"s left where it"s needed. If it doesn"t cover the soda crackers completely, don"t worry-it"ll spread out quite a bit in the oven.
Sprinkle the salted nut pieces over the top.
Slide the pan into the oven and bake the cookies at 350 degrees F. for ten (10) minutes.
Remove the pan from the oven and let it cool on a wire rack.
When the cookies have thoroughly cooled, peel off the foil and break them into random-sized pieces.
CHOCOLATE CRACK.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F., rack in the middle position.
1 box graham crackers. (I used Nabisco Honey Maid) 2 sticks salted b.u.t.ter (1 cup, 8 ounces, pound) 1 cup brown sugar (pack it down when you measure it) 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips (12-ounce package) Line a 10-inch by 15-inch cookie sheet with heavy-duty foil. If you have a jellyroll pan, that"s perfect. If you don"t, turn up the edges of the foil to form sides.
Spray the foil with Pam or another nonstick cooking spray. (You want to be able to peel it off later, after the candy hardens.) Line the pan completely with a single layer of graham crackers. Cover the whole bottom. (You can break the crackers in pieces to make them fit if you have to.) Set the cracker-lined jellyroll pan or cookie sheet aside while you cook the toffee mixture.
Combine the b.u.t.ter with the brown sugar in a saucepan. Bring it to a boil over medium high heat on the stovetop, stirring constantly. (A full boil will have breaking bubbles all over the surface of the pan.) Boil it for exactly five (5) minutes, stirring it constantly. If it sputters too much, you can reduce the heat. If it starts to lose the boil, you can increase the heat. Just don"t stop stirring.
Pour the mixture over the graham crackers as evenly as you can.
Hannah"s Note: I start by pouring the mixture in lines from top to bottom over the length of the pan. Then I turn it and pour more lines over the width of the pan. Once the whole pan is crosshatched with the hot toffee mixture, I pour any that"s left where it"s needed. If it doesn"t cover the crackers completely, don"t worry-it"ll spread out quite a bit in the oven.
Slide the pan into the oven and bake the cookies at 350 degrees F. for ten (10) minutes.
Remove the pan from the oven and sprinkle the chocolate chips over the top. Give the chips a minute or two to melt and then spread them out as evenly as you can with a heat-resistant spatula, a wooden paddle, or a frosting knife.
Slip the pan in the refrigerator to chill.
When the pan has chilled, peel the foil from the cookies and break them into random-sized pieces.
Chapter Three.
"Nothing succeeds like excess," Hannah said, looking up from her position behind the counter at The Cookie Jar as Mayor Richard Bas...o...b..and his wife, Stephanie, came in the door.
Hannah"s partner, Lisa, took one look at the female half of Lake Eden"s first couple and burst out laughing, a gaffe she quickly covered by pretending to cough. Stephanie Bas...o...b..was resplendent in a bright blue suit of raw silk with a stylish blue hat. Her frilly blouse matched the blooms on her hat, which Hannah identified as slightly more purple than the cornflowers growing wild in Winnie Henderson"s back forty. The first lady"s gloves were bright-blue leather and her chic leather pumps were of the same hue. A large sapphire surrounded with diamonds graced her right hand and she wore a matching set of necklace and earrings.
"Hannah! And Lisa!" Mrs. Bas...o...b..greeted them with the same surprised tone she might have used if she were traveling and happened to run into them at a Buddhist monastery in Sri Lanka.
Hannah exchanged puzzled glances with Lisa. Where else would they be during the hours The Cookie Jar was open for business?
"Good to see you, Mayor," Hannah said, and then she turned to the woman who spared no expense buying herself a stunning new outfit every time she found out about one of her husband"s dalliances. The mayor"s last peccadillo must have been particularly flagrant to warrant a suit, hat, gloves, shoes, and a fortune in gemstones. "You"re a vision in blue, Stephanie."
"Do you like it?" Stephanie asked, twirling around so that Hannah could see the flared skirt below the impeccably tailored jacket.
"I just love that color," Hannah answered truthfully, neglecting to mention that it was indeed possible to get too much of a good thing. Stephanie was living proof that the concept of overkill could be applied to fashion.
Stephanie turned to Lisa. "How about you, Lisa? Do you like my new outfit?"
Hannah waited breathlessly for Lisa"s answer. Her partner, well known for hating to hurt anyone"s feelings, would have to think fast on this one.
"It"s stunning," Lisa said, and Hannah mentally congratulated her young partner for choosing a word with several shades of meaning. "Wherever did you get it?" Lisa continued breathlessly. "Unless, of course, you"re keeping that secret to yourself."
"Well..." Stephanie considered it for a moment. "It"s a new, very exclusive shop at the mall. You have to know someone to get in. Everything they have is incredibly expensive..." Stephanie turned to her husband. "But I do think it"s worth it, don"t you, Richard?"