"I won't hurt her if you do what I say." He grabbed her arm roughly, shoving her through the door to the cabana.

He kicked the door shut then spun her around. "I'm going to regret having to do this," he said, tracing the tip of the knife from the top of her throat all the way down her chest stopping just where her bra started. "Everything would have been ok, if you had just minded our own business. We might have even had some fun together." He released her arm and she stumbled backwards.

"You killed Chastine?"

Blake snorted. "Yep. When they brought Candice and Bronson in today, I had the perfect plan to frame them, but now you've put a kink in the plan. Regrettably, I will have to straighten out that kink." He lifted the knife again.

"But why?" Lexy hoped if she kept him talking it would buy her some time to think of a way to get free.

Blake walked over to the corner. Bending down, he came up with a length of thick rope in one hand while still holding Sprinkles in the other.

He turned and walked towards Lexy. "You wanna know why? I guess I can tell you since you won't be around to tell anyone else." He hefted the rope in one hand, then put Sprinkles down, still holding the end of her leash. The little dog tugged at the end to try to get to Lexy. Lexy winced as Blake roughly jerked her back.

"Chastine and I were lovers...before she took up with Dad. Once she found out how much money he had, she went after him like a greyhound after a rabbit. The only problem was, she still wanted me on the side. Normally, I don't care how many other guys a woman has...but when the other guy is your own father, well, that's too disgusting even for me." He made a face.

Lexy nodded to encourage him to continue, Sprinkles strained at the leash, the frayed section getting even thinner.

"I wanted to break it off. She wouldn't let me - threatened to take away all the money once she was married to dad. That night she had requested a rendezvous," he said the word with a look of distaste on his face. "I left the front door open for her and we met in the kitchen. We argued. Things got out of hand. Before I knew it, I was standing over her body holding a bloody knife."

Blake shrugged. "And now I guess I'm going to have to use that knife again," he said, taking a step towards Lexy.

Sprinkles strained even harder. The leash snapped. The dog broke free, running to Lexy's side.

"Run, Sprinkles!" She commanded. Blake lunged at her, grabbing her by the hair, jerking her head backwards.

Sprinkles didn't run, she leaped for Blake's ankles, sinking her teeth in and barking loudly.

Blake tried to throw the dog off. Kicking out his feet, he lost his balance. His grip on Lexy's hair loosened. She spun around raising her knee hard. She felt it connect with soft flesh, heard a grunt and saw Blake collapse in a ball on the floor.

Lexy grabbed the barking dog and ran for the door.

"Come back - bitch!" She heard Blake's heavy footsteps behind her.

Picking up speed, she wrenched the door open, catapulting herself forward, trying to put as much distance between her and Blake as possible.

Her stiletto heel caught on a hole in the flooring, her heart stopped as she was jerked off balance. She felt herself falling. She clutched Sprinkles even closer bracing for the hard impact of the ground.

Instead, she felt strong arms circle her waist, pulling her upright. She tensed, ready to fight Blake off with everything she had, then looked up...right into the eyes of Jack Perillo.

A blur of activity was going on behind her. People were shouting and running. She turned in time to see John Darling leap onto Blake and bring him crashing to the ground. The knife skittered across the driveway. Someone bent to retrieve it.

"That's the knife that murdered Chastine!" Lexy pointed at it.

"Bag that knife for evidence," Jack yelled, then, putting his finger under Lexy's chin he turned her head back to face him.

"Lexy, what the hell are you doing here?"

Lexy winced at the anger in his voice. She took a step back from Jack, cuddling Sprinkles closer, stroking the dogs fur.

"I didn't actually come here," she said. "I was walking Sprinkles on the walking trails over there when I saw Blake with the knife. I think he was trying to get rid of it in the new cement." She pointed towards the cement forms in front of the cabana.

"Anyway, Blake knew I saw him. He forced me into the cabana. He confessed - he's the one who murdered Chastine!" She said, feeling a little sheepish since she was the one who had insisted it was Candice.

"He confessed? Well that saves us a lot of time. Candice said she had stumbled onto the murder scene and he was blackmailing her to keep quiet."

"Blackmailing her?"

"Yes, it turns out Candice was the daughter of Chastine's former fiancee - I guess she had quite a grudge against her. Blake found that out and threatened to reveal her secret and frame her for the murder. That's why he still had the knife."

"And Bronson?"

"According to Candice he had no idea about any of this."

"How did you know we were back here?" Lexy asked.

"We pulled up in front with a warrant to bring Blake in. When we heard Sprinkles barking back here, we figured something was going on." Jack reached down to ruffle the fur behind Sprinkles ears.

"Well I guess you might have saved me twice today, girl." Lexy kissed the top of the dogs head, then placed her gently on the ground. "Sprinkles bit Blake's leg when he grabbed me - it was because if her I was able to get away. Thank God you came when you did, or he might have caught up to me." Lexy felt a shiver run up her spine.

Jack looked down at the little dog. "Sprinkles is going to get a big treat tonight," he said, then he looked back at Lexy, his eyes turning serious. "I'm just glad Blake didn't hurt you...this is why I didn't want you investigating any of this. I couldn't bear it if something happened to you."

Lexy felt her heart melt. "I know, I'm sorry. I only wanted to help find the killer so I could get paid."

Jack put his hands on Lexy's shoulders. Bending down, he brushed his lips against her forehead, then pulled her in for a hug. "I guess I'm going to have to spend a lot more time with you from now on in order to keep you out of trouble."

Lexy smiled up at him. "I'll be looking forward to that, Detective Perillo."

Epilogue.

"To murder!" Jack raised his cut crystal wine glass for a toast, the light from the chandeliers overhead reflecting off the glass in brilliant sparks of light.

"Murder?" John asked from across the table, "that's a funny thing to toast to."

"Well, if it wasn't for murder, we all might not be sitting here together tonight."

It was true, Lexy thought, looking around the table. Chastine's murder had brought her and Jack back together and the investigation had caused John and Cassie to keep bumping into each other in a way that never would have happened otherwise.

"Here, here." She said, raising her glass. The four wine glasses met in the middle of the table. Wine sloshed as they clinked together, the sound drowned out only by the laughter of the people holding the glasses.

Lexy felt the contented, warm glow of happiness which comes when things are going just right. She looked around the table. The fine linen, fancy china and glittering silver were nice to look at, but nothing compared to her four best friends who she shared the table with.

Jack was to her left, John Darling to her right and Cassie across from her. Behind Cassie, she could see the lights from the restaurant sparkle on the water of the falls. She looked down at her plate of prime rib, garlic mashed and green beans and felt truly blessed.

"Did you guys hear? It looks like there is going to be a wedding after all!" Lexy said excitedly.

Across the table she saw Cassie's eyes grow wide, darting from Lexy's face to her left hand.

Lexy laughed, "Not me, silly. Xavier Toliver! He's going to marry Trixie and, the best part is, he's hired us to do the catering, so we'll get all the money we need for the kitchen equipment after all!"

"That's wonderful!" Cassie said, then turning to Jack she asked, "What's going to happen to Candice, now?"

"She'll probably get off with just a slap. She wasn't actually involved in the murder and Bronson has hired the best lawyers to represent her."

"Well, I'm just glad we caught the real killer and he'll be spending a lot of time in jail. It turns out he was always the bad boy - not Bronson like everyone thought. In fact, Bronson took the fall for a lot of the things Blake did." John said.

"I'm glad Bronson and Candice ended up together. She's kind of nice once you get to know her. I hear she moved into the Toliver mansion. There may be a second wedding in the works." Lexy winked at Cassie "I hope we get the catering job for that one too."

"I'm glad the whole thing is solved and you girls won't have to put yourselves in danger by investigating any more murders." Jack slid a sideways glance at Lexy.

Lexy smiled at him above a forkful of potatoes. She thought about the investigation. Sure, it was a bit dangerous, but she liked putting together the clues and it was fun working with Nans and the Ladies Detective Club. In fact, the ladies had asked her to help them out with a few other mysteries they had on their plate. She was considering it, this investigation stuff was kind of a fun hobby.

"Right, Lexy?" She looked up to see Jack looking at her with his brows raised.

"What?"

"You won't be getting involved in any more murder investigations, right?" Jack prodded.

"Oh, right," she said. Focusing her attention on her steak, she deftly avoided eye contact, not that she was lying or anything. She didn't plan to get involved in any more murder investigations...at least not tonight.

The End.

Ready For More? Get The Rest Of The Lexy Baker Series Today: Killer Cupcakes - Things are going great for Lexy Baker. She's finally opened her dream bakery, gotten rid of her cheating boyfriend and settled into her grandmothers house with her perky dog Sprinkles at her side.

But her blissful life doesn't last long. When her ex boyfriend is found poisoned with cupcakes from her bakery, Lexy finds herself in the middle of a murder investigation headed up by her hunky neighbor detective Jack Perillo.

With the help of a gang of iPad toting, would-be detective grandmothers, Lexy decides to take it upon herself to find the real murderer in order to clear her name and get her bakery back in business.

As things heat up on the murder trail, in the kitchen and between Lexy and the hunky detective, it's a race against time to put the real murderer behind bars and get back to baking.

Will Lexy get her man?

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Lexy's Danish Pastry Recipe Don't you just love the flaky, buttery taste of Danish pastry? Lexy says one of the keys is to keep the butter ice cold. Here's her recipe for making Danish pastry from scratch: Recipe makes 16 Danish pastries Pastry Dough Ingredients: 1/2 ounce active dry yeast (this is 2 1/4 ounce packages or 5 tablespoons) 1 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup sugar 3 egg yolks 1 teaspoon almond extract 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 2/3 cup milk 3 3/4 cups flour 3 sticks unsalted butter, cut into small chunks Preparation: Proof the yeast in 1/4 cup warm water for 5 min. Once it is foamy, stir in the salt, sugar, egg yolks, almond extract, vanilla extract and milk. Add 3 1/4 cups of the flour. Stir until the dough is slightly sticky, then cover and put in the fridge for 1 hour.

On a very cold surface (a marble pastry board works best), combine the butter and 1/2 cup of the flour, then roll out into a 6" square. Work quickly so the butter does not get too soft. Wrap the square in plastic wrap and put it in the fridge for 30 minutes or long enough so that it is firm but still pliable (not so cold that it breaks when you handle it).

Turn the dough out onto a well floured surface and roll it into a 12" square. Place the butter in the middle. Pull in the corners of the dough to the middle so that you are encasing the butter inside the dough (this is what makes it flaky). The entire butter piece should be covered and your dough should look like an envelope. Seal the edges of the dough by pinching them together then flatten gently with a rolling pin. Roll it out gently to an 18" x 18" piece of dough.

Fold the top quarter of the dough into the middle and the bottom quarter to the middle so the two pieces meet. Then fold those over each other so that you have a piece that kind of looks like a book.

Roll it out again into an 18" square and fold again. Wrap in plastic and chill for 1 hour.

Repeat the rolling, folding and chilling process two more times.

Chill the dough overnight.

To create the Pastries: Preheat oven to 350F.

Roll the chilled dough to a 1/4" thickness.

You can cut the dough into squares of 4 inches each. Stretch the corners and put about 1 tablespoon of filling in the middle. Then fold the corners over the filling to form a flap.

OR, you can cut the dough into 1" strips, then twist them and roll into a round spiral. Place the filling in the middle of the spiral.

For filling, you can use any type of fruit preserve, or go with the cheese Danish filling recipe provided below.

Brush the dough with egg wash.

Bake on lightly greased baking sheets for about 30 min. or until they are golden brown.

Drizzle with the glaze.

Glaze Ingredients: 1 cup confectioners sugar 2 tablespoons lemon juice Preparation: Slowly add the lemon juice to the confectioners sugar until you have a pourable glaze. You don't want it to be too thin or it won't make lines on the danish. Too thick and it won't pour.

Cheese Danish Filling Ingredients: 8 ounces cream cheese 1 teaspoon vanilla 1/2 cup sugar 2 egg yolks (at room temperatur) 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest pinch salt Preparation: Cream the cream cheese and sugar together either by hand or using a mixer on low.

Add the rest of the ingredients and mix until combined - don't overmix!

Easy Danish Pastry Making pastry dough can be a bit difficult. Lexy has a commercial kitchen and years of experience at her disposal, but if you don't .. and you want to make some quick pastry dough, here's an easy method: Ingredients: 1 Box of puff pastry Filling of your choice 1 egg 1 tablespoon water Preparation: Preheat oven to 400(f) Unfold a sheet of puff pastry onto a floured board.

Roll it out until it is 10" square.

Cut the sheet into 4 equal squares.

Put 1 tablespoon of filling in the middle of each square.

Beat the egg together with the tablespoon of water to make an egg wash.

Brush the egg wash on the edges of the pastry.