Father's Day Cheesecake and Mysteries

What could be better than a slice of delicious homemade cheese cake and a great mystery. Yummy!

Father's Day Cheesecake
1 - 8 oz. pkg. cream cheese softened
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
8 oz. Cool Whip, thawed
1 graham cracker crust
1/2 cup additional thawed Cool Whip
strawberry dessert topping or jam

Beat cream cheese, sugar and vanilla with wire whisk in a large bowl until smooth. Gently stir in whipped topping. Spoon into crust. Refrigerate at least 4 hours or until set. Decorate top of dessert with additional whipped topping and marshmallows to resemble a tie. Fill in tie and outline edge of pie with dessert topping. Store in refrigerator.


White Chocolate Hazelnut Cheesecake
1 lb. white baking bar with cocoa butter
4 - 8 oz pkgs. cream cheese, softened
3 Tbsp. Hazelnut liqueur or milk
1 Tbsp. vanilla
Dash ground nutmeg
4 eggs
1 egg yolk
2 - 3 oz. bars milk chocolate with hazelnuts or 4- 1 1/2 oz. barks milk chocolate with almonds
chocolate curls
8 oz. pkg. Hazelnut cookies
3 Tbsp. butter melted

Prepare Hazelnut crust by combining crushed hazelnut cookies and butter. Butter sides of a 10-inch springform pan; press hazelnut crust evenly over bottom of pan. Place pan in shallow baking pan. For filling, cook and stir baking bar over low heat until melted. In a large mixing bowl, beat melted baking bar, cream cheese, butter, liqueur, vanilla, and nutmeg until well mixed. Stir in milk chocolate. Pour into crust. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 60-65 minutes or until a knife inserted midway between center and edge comes out clean. Cool 5-10 minutes on a wire rack. Loosen sides of cheesecake. Cool for 30 minutes. Remove sides of pan. Cover; chill thoroughly. Top with chocolate curls before serving.






Small towns all had one thing in common—news traveled fast. Gavin wasn’t surprised to see headlights approaching. Nor was he surprised to see the sheriff pull up behind his car. He was surprised when she stepped into view. Millie had said she was pretty, but that was an understatement. Even with her flaming red hair pulled severely from her face, and without a trace of makeup, she was breathtaking. He had an overwhelming urge to free the long red hair, bury his face in it and smell its softness.
“You won’t find a story here, McAllister.” Her voice was cold, her green eyes scornful.
“What makes you think I’m looking for a story?”
“Your reputation precedes you.”
Gavin laughed, but there was no mirth in the sound. “Oh, yes, the ruthless bastard.” He scanned her face, trying to find what it was about her that made it hard for him to think of anything but holding her.
“The only thing you’ll find here is a sad young woman who lost control of her car and died.” Sarah’s voice was filled with anger, pain, and something he couldn’t quite decipher.
“I thought she was drinking.” Gavin stated, watching the green eyes for a reaction.
Sarah didn’t answer, but turned away and started toward the Explorer.
“You’re not sure it was an accident, are you?” He baited her.
Sarah turned, hesitation and doubt written on her face, as she met his challenging gaze.
“If it wasn’t, that’s still no business of yours. Watch your step while you’re in my town, McAllister. One wrong move, one citizen’s complaint, and you’ll find yourself with an overnight stay and a one-way ticket out of here.”
Gavin looked at the marks on the tree, ignoring the challenge. “And what about Johanna? What about her pain? The dead don’t rest, Sheriff, until the guilty are punished.”
Their eyes met and Gavin felt something pass between them. For a moment he thought she had touched him. Just a gentle brush of her fingertips across his face. A feather-light kiss. A flicker of pain darkened her eyes.
“Johanna Nelson’s death was an accident. There aren’t any secrets in Glade Springs, Mr. McAllister.”
He watched her turn her back on him again, walking stiffly to her vehicle. He issued his own challenge. “Someone in Glade Springs has a secret, Sheriff. One worth killing for, and I’m going to find it.”



Rob cast a sidelong glance at his brother, wondering why no one else saw it. The differences were more drastic now. The dark stubble, shaggy hair, haunted eyes. All the things he’d written off to imagination. Until the Mother’s Day killer had shown up. That was when the changes became more distinct.
Jacody interrupted his thoughts, handing the list back to him. “That didn’t take you too long, now did it?”
Rob snorted. “There’s a hundred names on there. Do you know how many people, especially kids go missing each year?”
“Yeah, according to the Missing Person’s Database, 210,000 a year.”
“Don’t be a smartass. I told you it would be like looking for a needle in a haystack. That’s just the first hundred that match your description. There’s probably a couple of hundred more.” Rob stood up, shoved his chair away from the desk. A signal for Jacody to leave.
“Come on, Rob. You can do better than that. Make a few phone calls. Find the ones that can be crossed off.” Jacody grinned, searching for the nerve, striking home. “Help me find her, and maybe I’ll let Gavin come out to play.”
Rob clamped his mouth shut to keep from yelling “Go to hell!” He wanted to. Wanted to wipe that smirk off Jacody’s face. Problem was if Jacody went to hell he took Gavin with him. The sooner the bastard found what he was looking for the sooner Gavin would be back.
Sitting down he picked up the list, pushed up his shirtsleeves and reached for the phone. His voice one step above a whisper and deadly. “Get out so I can make your damn phone calls.”