"Sure." She crossed her fingers behind her back. She didn't actually have the book anymore, but she had a plan to get a confession from the killer and the plan would only work if they met in person.

"OK, meet me at my house in 20 minutes," the voice on the other end said breathlessly into the phone.

Lexy snapped the phone shut. She rummaged in her glove compartment, pulling out a small tape recorder she kept to record any recipe ideas she might have and she slid it into her purse. A taped confession always worked on tv so she couldn't see why it wouldn't work for her. She found a little notebook in the back of her car that would work as a decoy. Finally, she pulled a can of pepper spray from under her seat just in case things got ugly.

Nans warning rang in her head. She should call Jack, but she knew he wouldn't approve of her plan and she couldn't wait any longer for the case to be solved so that her bakery could be open again. She was almost out of savings and needed to be earning money in order to pay her bills. Calling Jack would only slow things down.

Her decision made, she turned her cell phone off, then double checked her purse for the tape recorder, notebook and pepper spray. Satisfied everything was in order, she put her car in gear and drove off towards her destination.

Chapter Fourteen.

Jack looked at his cell phone wondering if he should call Lexy to check on her. No, better to wait a bit.

He thought about the notebook she had given him last night. He had taken it to the station right away. His people were busy working on deciphering it - it should hold the clues which would point to whoever killed Kevin.

Which made him wonder what role Lexy had played, if any, in the whole thing. At first she was high up on their suspect list. But as the case unraveled, Jack was relieved to see it looked less and less like she had been involved.

Still, there were several things that pointed to her - the poison cupcake tops, her relationship with the deceased, and those stiletto heel marks weren't in her favor. But an intense investigation and surveillance hadn't turned anything else up. And, of course, last nights events pretty much cleared her... unless she had very cleverly staged it - but why would she give Jack the book? She had to be innocent, Jack thought, hoping his confidence in her innocence was because of the clues and evidence and not because of his feelings towards her.

Jack felt a sinking feeling in his stomach, if she was innocent, then her life could be in serious danger.

Jack's cell phone rang in his hand, startling him. He whipped it open, hoping it was Lexy.

"Jack! I hope you can help me... I'm worried about Lexy!"

"Mona?" Jack recognized Nan's voice.

"Yes, it's me. I think she may have gone off and done something stupid." Jack could hear the worry in Mona's voice.

"Take a deep breath and tell me what happened." Jack felt his heart clench.

"She was over here this morning. She found a button on her floor last night and assumed it was from whoever knocked her out so she came over to show it to us." Mona paused taking a deep, shaky breath.

"Go on." Jack knew there must be more to the story to get Mona so upset.

"Then, we were watching the tv when she suddenly announced she knew who the killer was and ran out!"

"Did she say where she was going? Or who she thought the killer was?"

"No, I tried to stop her but she was determined. I'm worried, I think she may be going to confront the killer herself!" Jack heard Mona's voice rise in panic.

"Don't worry, I'll find her." Jack said, struggling to keep his voice calm to stop the older woman from worrying. "I'll call you back as soon as I have her safe... you just sit tight, OK?"

"OK, thank you, Jack."

Jack snapped the phone shut. Where could she have gone?

He remembered the police car he had assigned to her - were they still following her? He opened his phone punching the speed dial for the station with shaky fingers.

"Hi, this is Jack.. is that car still assigned to Lexy Baker?"

"No, we only had it booked for overnight." Jack felt his heart plummet. "But we do have some news on the notebook you brought in."

"Spill it."

"Moe's been able to decipher a little of it and all things point to our number one suspect."

"So, you think our theory was correct. Kevin caught him embezzling then started blackmailing him and was killed because of it?"

"Looks that way. But we still need something more concrete to arrest him."

Jack's mind flashed on what Mona had said about Lexy finding a button. "Let me call you back in a minute. I think I might have just what we need."

Jack looked through his recent calls, finding the one from Mona, he punched the button to call her back.

"Hi Mona, it's Jack ... you said you were watching something on tv when Lexy announced she knew who the killer was, right?"

"Yes, that's right."

"Do you remember what you were watching?"

"Of course, it was Kevin's brother Jason .. you know he's the deputy mayor, right? Well anyway, he was on tv announcing something."

Bingo!

"OK, thanks. I'll call you soon." Jack assured Mona, then disconnected the call and pressed the button to dial the station again.

"I have the hard evidence - a button from the killers jacket. Can we get a car out there right away?" Jack felt his heart beating faster. Lexy could be confronting the killer right now. Either way he was going there, but he'd feel a lot more confident if he had the whole police department behind him.

"Yep, I'll put out the call right away. We'll be ready to roll in about 10 minutes." Jack felt a sigh of relief escape his lips. He snapped the phone shut and ran for his car.

Chapter Fifteen.

Jason ushered Lexy hurriedly into the house, casting a glance outside before shutting the door.

"I knew you would come to me ... you didn't tell anyone else did you?"

"No, of course not." Lexy mentally crossed her fingers. She wanted Jason to feel like she was "on his side" so he'd be more apt to talk.

"Do you have the notebook?" Jason's stared at Lexy - she noticed his eyes were rimmed in red, his face wore a stubble of beard which was uncustomary for the clean cut politician.

Lexy took a few steps back. She reached into her purse, pulling out the book. She could feel her heart pounding with fear that Jason would know it wasn't the real one. Her eye started to twitch and she hoped the nervous reaction didn't give her away.

Jason ran his hands through his already unkempt hair, messing it up even more. "I can't believe Kevin did this to me. You understand why I had to do it, right? I did it for us."

Us? He must be delusional, Lexy thought. She gave what she hoped looked like an understanding nod of her head.

"I guess we have a lot in common - first Kevin betrays you and then me. But now we can be together, we can go anywhere we want with the money. I know you want to be together as badly as I do."

Go anywhere together? Lexy felt adrenalin cursing through her veins - her flight reflexes ready to kick into gear. She knew Jason had wanted to be more than friends but she'd never given him any indication she wanted that too.

"The money? You mean from the bridge project?" She probed, trying to get him to come out and say it so she could have it on tape. To her frustration, Jason merely nodded.

She tried another angle of attack. "How did Kevin find out about it?"

"It was my damn assistant, Sheila! She noticed a discrepancy in one of the financial reports that came through my office. She dug further into it and then told Kevin what she had found." He snorted out a laugh. "Of course, the jerk figured out a way to use the information to make money. I wanted to fire her, but they had me over a barrel. I got her in the end though, It was Shiela who delivered the fatal cupcakes to Kevin!" He gave a full out laugh which ended in a high pitched, hysterical note.

Great, he's delusional and deranged.

"Jason, why did you use my cupcakes to poison him? Surely you could have found some other food to put it in."

"Ah... that was the brilliant part of my plan. With the history between the two of you, I knew poisoning him with your cupcakes would throw them off my track while they investigated you. Plus, it was a little insurance policy to make sure you would go away with me." He eyed her up and down. "Just in case you resisted, I knew you wouldn't want to stay here and face jail time."

Lexy could only shake her head at his faulty logic. The man clearly needed dating advice if he thought setting her up for murder was a way to make her want to run away with him.

Jason continued on, unaware that Lexy was edging her way towards the door. "Kevin was so cocky, so sure of himself. Threatening to turn me in. I mean I'm his brother for crying out lout!"

"Turn you in with the information in the book?" Lexy asked, still holding it.

"Yes, of course." Jasons eyes narrowed to slits. "Wait a minute - let me see what's in there."

Lexy tried to pull the book out of his reach, but he was too fast, grabbing it roughly out of her hands. He opened the book. Her heart clenched in terror. Lexy could see his face growing redder as he realized he'd been duped.

You bitch!" he screamed. "You tricked me - just like Kevin!"

Lexy's brain was screaming for her to run but her legs felt like tree trunks rooted to the spot. Jason's eyes were wild, his face a mask of rage.

"No one crosses me," he sputtered. "You saw what happened to Kevin when he tried it - he got his and now you'll get yours too!

Jason lunged for Lexy, wrapping his hands around her throat. Squeezing with all his might. Lexy tried to fend him off, but her air supply was dwindling, stars swam before her eyes. Everything was starting to turn black. She thought of Nans and Sprinkles. What would they do without her?

Jason's face, only inches from hers, was screwed up in anger as he focused his energy on choking the life out of her. With one last burst of strength, she reached into her purse. Her hand closed on a round cylinder. She brought her hand up in between their faces, pressed the button on the cylinder and sprayed.

Lexy heard Jason scream, then felt him release his hold on her neck. She slumped to the floor gasping for air but finding only the heavy mist of pepper spray which her lungs violently coughed out again.

Hearing a thunderous crash and the sound of splintering wood, she peered through teary eyes towards the direction of the sound just in time to see Jack and several members of the BRPD come barreling through the door with their guns drawn.

Chapter Sixteen.

Lexy was sputtering and coughing, her eyes watering from the pepper spray. She felt strong arms wrap around her, pulling her to her feet.

"Lexy, are you OK?" Jack's face was etched with lines of concern.

"I ... think ... so." She managed to get the words out between coughs. On the other side of the room, she saw Jason face down on the floor with two detectives trying to wrestle him into handcuffs. His violent yelling and squirming wasn't making the job easy for them.

"What were you thinking?" Jack demanded. "You could have been killed!"

Lexy felt her cheeks grow hot, she looked down at the floor. She had been foolish to confront Jason herself. She had been thinking of him as her old friend and had forgotten how dangerous he was.

Jack tilted her chin up with his thumb, forcing her to look at him. He wiped a tear from her cheek. The tender look in his eyes made her heart melt.

Then his lips were on hers causing her body to tingle. Her stomach did a little flip flop. She leaned in, accepting his kiss. She forgot about everything, losing herself in the delicious sensations that were rippling through her. Then, she remembered he had a girlfriend.

She pulled away like a child pulling their hand back from a hot stove. Jack's eyes flew open, a startled look on his face.

"Is something wrong?"

"You know what's wrong - you shouldn't be kissing me like that! What would your girlfriend think?" Lexy felt hot, searing anger replacing the warm tingly feelings that had been there just a moment ago.

Girlfriend? What are you talking about?"

"Don't try to deny it! I heard you calling her darling on the phone and saw her in your living room window one night with her long, curly hair!" Lexy was close to tears. Why did she feel so hurt?

Jack stared at her for a moment, his forehead wrinkled in confusion. Then she saw the wrinkles disappear. He let out a deep, long laugh.

"You think that was my girlfriend?" His eyes twinkled with amusement. He turned, poking his head out the door. "Hey John, come in here for a minute."

Lexy stood there bristling with anger. Just what did he think was so funny? Lexy glanced over seeing a man saunter through the door. Black leather jacket, torn jeans, hair slicked back in a pony tail. An undercover detective?

"This is my partner, John Darling." Jack said with emphasis on the detectives last name.

"He usually wears his hair all loose and curly, but today he has the pony tail." John turned around to show off his lengthy locks. "I'm guessing he's the one you saw at my house."

Lexy felt her jaw drop open. Even though she felt like a fool, she couldn't help but see the humor in it. She held her hand out to the detective.

"Nice to meet you," she said, stifling a giggle.

He took her hand, shaking it firmly. "So you're the one who's caused all the ruckus downtown?" He said with a wink.

"I am?"