Dying for a Cupcake by Denise Swanson Page A

some tough love.
    “Everything the chief does is not about you.” I stared at Poppy until her cheeks reddened. “I know the world of hurt you’re in because of your problems with him.” I held up my hand when she started to speak. “Maybe not the precise latitude and longitude, but I’m familiar with the coordinates. Even so, you need to get over your daddy issues.”
    “Sure. Now that your father has been exonerated, you think mine is innocent, too.” Poppy pouted. “You have no idea how evil my dad is.”
    “You’re right. I don’t.” I crossed my arms. “Because you’ve never told me what happened between you two. I know you and your father have never agreed with each other on most fundamental issues, but something pretty serious had to have caused you to actually stop speaking to him.”
    “I don’t want to talk about that.” Poppy mimicked my pose, crossing her arms, leaning against the sink, and frowning. “It doesn’t have anything to do with what he’s up to right now.”
    “Fine.” I shook my head. “But seriously, girlfriend. Would your father really risk upsetting an event that’s benefiting the whole town just to get back at you?” I sighed. “You have to admit, he would never use his position as chief that way. He loves the police department too much to risk giving it that kind of black eye.”
    “Maybe,” Poppy admitted. “And truly, the last thing I want to do is hurt him.” She grimaced, then winked. “But if he doesn’t behave, it’s still on my list.”
    “I understand.” I had a few people on my own list that were one insult or nasty innuendo away from a punch in the face.
    “So, what do you think the chief’s going to say?” Poppy asked.
    “My guess is that he’s going to announce the cause of Fallon’s death.” I bit my lip. “There’s been a lot of gossip going around about what happened to her. Maybe this is his way of putting a stop to the rumors.”
    “Yeah.” Poppy nodded. “I’ve heard people speculating that it was everything from food poisoning to a deadly virus.” She paused. “But what if it was something like that rather than natural causes? Either contagion or contaminated chow would freak out the tourists.”
    “True.”
    “Do you have a strategy if it’s bad news?” Poppy asked. “I mean, you always have a plan, right?”
    “Not exactly a fully formed plan.” It appeared Poppy had stepped away from the edge of her emotional cliff, and was no longer about to publicly attack her father, so I unlocked the bathroom door and held it open for her. “But I do want to speak to the chief before he makes his big announcement. Is he here yet?”
    “Of course he is.” Poppy tugged the neckline of her tank a bit lower and the waist of her skirt a bit higher. “He arrived at precisely five fifty-nine and is now holding court at the head table.”
    “He’s sitting with Kizzy, Lee, and the judges?” I trailed Poppy down the corridor as she marched to the largest of the church hall’s three rooms, then pointed to the long table at the front.
    “Right next to the cupcake queen herself.” Poppy frowned. “And from what I saw before you got here, Ms. Kizzy was flirting with him.”
    “I take it your mom isn’t with the chief?” I asked, although I could plainly see Mrs. Kincaid wasn’t seated next to her husband.
    “No.” Poppy shook her head. “Dad’s in uniform, which means this is official business.” She jerked a thumb to the end of the head table. “Take a gander at the mayor. He’s super ticked off that Kizzy is ignoring him in favor of my father.”
    I glanced at Eggers. His face was twisted in a pout. Chief Kincaid and our esteemed mayor had a long-standing rivalry. When Eggers wrested control of the city council from the chief, they had begun voting down police department budget increases. Not one to be easily thwarted, Chief Kincaid applied for federal funds. And when the chief’s applications began to bring in money,